Having considered five butterflies in the genus Allancastria, we move on to the genus Archon. There are either two or three species of Archon, depending on which scientist is counting them. They can't really be called swallowtails since their wings don't have tails. They are classified in the European family called Parnassians, which have wing structure similar to swallowtails, except that the wings are round.
"Parnassian" was part of the fashion for giving names from Greek literature to everything. It meant "from Mount Parnassus," which was said to be the home of Apollo, who was said to be the "god" of sunshine and things sunshine promotes--music and poetry, healing, enlightenment, education. Parnassus was especially associated with studying and learning. "Climbing Mount Parnassus" became a phrase for going to school, going to a library or bookstore, or just studying at home.
Archon meant "one who rules," and the two agreed-upon species in this genus were apollinaris, "of Apollo," and apollinus, "Little Apollo." So today we consider Archon apollinaris, which is found in Iran, Iraq, Syria, and Turkey, so it has no real English name. It's been called "Little False Apollo." I agree with the majority of online sources that that name is too silly to count.
Photo donated By Frédéric Carbonell - Own work, CC BY 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=3637627 .
The underside of the wings is brown. Sometimes the upper side is yellow or light brown too.
As with the Allancastrias, the markings can be more conspicuous and the background color darker.
Like the Swallowtails it's somewhat variable. In the higher elevations, where the weather tends to be colder, the wing markings are smaller, and in some places the females (not the males) are brown rather than white. The body is dark and furry.
In less wealthy countries there tends to be less interest in the life cycles of animals without economic value. Photos of the ova and pupae of this species were not available. Frederic Carbonell has reared Archon apollinaris and the similar species A. bostanchii, together, to study the genetic differences that show when the species grow up in identical conditions. The caterpillars are almost identical; they eat Aristolochia leaves, and are one of the butterfly species in which caterpillars can be reared in groups.
Size and color, he says, reflect age rather than species identity. The big one at the lower left-hand corner was A. apollinaris. The brownish one above it was bostanchii, about to pupate.
No comments:
Post a Comment