Corsican swallowtail

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Corsican swallowtail
Corsican swallowtail (Papilio hospiton)

Corsican swallowtail ( Papilio hospiton )

Systematics
Class : Insects (Insecta)
Order : Butterflies (Lepidoptera)
Family : Knight Butterfly (Papilionidae)
Subfamily : Papilioninae
Genre : Papilio
Type : Corsican swallowtail
Scientific name
Papilio hospiton
( Gené , 1839)
Two views of the same specimen

The Corsican swallowtail ( Papilio hospiton ) is a butterfly from the family of the knightly butterflies (Papilionidae). It is endemic to Corsica and Sardinia.

features

butterfly

The moths reach a wingspan of 60 to 70 millimeters. The forewings are predominantly black or black-brown. Between the submarginal region and the post-disk region runs a series of large, yellow elongated spots from the front edge to the inside, which point to the outer edge and which can almost merge into a band. They become longer and wider towards the inside. A number of much smaller arrow spots run parallel to the outer edge. There are still three elongated, yellow spots on the front edge. The hind wings are also black. The series of large yellow spots continues here in the discal region , but the spots become increasingly smaller towards the inner edge and they merge into a band. In the submarginal region there is a series of yellow arc spots. The arc spot in the anal angle is colored orange. In the post-disk region and also on the border to the disk region there is an arcuate row of blue spots. The slightly toothed outer edge has a short tail.

The underside of the forewings has all the characteristics of the upper side, but they are more common. The underside of the hind wings is yellow. All veins as well as the border of the arc spots are black. There are now also red spots on the blue spots.

There are no gender differences in the wing pattern, both sexes have the same wing markings and the same hairy body, which is black on the upper side and yellow on the lower side.

Egg, caterpillar and pupa

The caterpillars are quite colorful. The dark top has a broken white topline accompanied by yellow arch marks. The side lines are also white, the underside green. The doll is gray.

Similar species

The Corsican swallowtail ( Papilio hospiton ) is very similar to the swallowtail ( Papilio machaon ) native to Europe and the Mediterranean islands . But in the Corsican swallowtail, the dark parts on the fore and hind wings are larger, the red eye-spots on the upper side of the hind wings are significantly smaller and the typical "tails" are shorter than in the swallowtail.

It even happens that these two species mate. The hybrids resulting from the crossing are fertile, but show disturbances in further development. While backcrossing by the F1 hybrids can also occur in the first generation - with introgression of some genes - the F2 generation then breaks down and the two species are isolated postzygotically .

The Corsican swallowtail bears less resemblance to the southern swallowtail ( Papilio alexanor ) that occurs in southern and southeastern Europe or to the sail butterfly ( Iphiclides podalirius ).

Geographical distribution and occurrence

Papilio hospiton can only be found in Corsica and Sardinia . It can be found both on the plains and in the mountains, but it prefers the higher altitudes of 500 to 1200 m. The species prefers open, grassy and flower-rich mountain slopes and mountain valleys, often also clearings or open spaces between bushes.

Way of life

The moths fly in several generations from mid-March to mid-August, mostly from mid-May to late July. The moths often show a "hilltopping" (Gipfelbalz). In contrast, “hilltopping” has not yet been observed in females. Eggs are laid individually on the tip of the leaves of plants that are in the shade or on the lower, shaded leaves of plants that are in the sun. The crawler food crops are in Corsica Ferula communis ( Ferula communis ), Ruta Corsica and paniculatum Peucedanum , Sardinia Ferula communis ( Ferula communis ). Under breeding conditions, the caterpillars also eat rue ( Ruta graveolens ) and the non-native but related Skimmia japonica . The pupa hibernates.

Parasites

The caterpillars of the Corsican swallowtail (and also the swallowtail ( Papilio machaon )) are often attacked by the parasitic wasp Trogus violaceus . It hibernates as a pupa in the swallowtail and the Corsican swallowtail. It only hatches in autumn and then lays the eggs in the caterpillars of their hosts.

Danger

Papilio hospiton is considered critically endangered on the Red List of Threatened Species . The reasons for this are the construction of buildings, the destruction of pasture lands, fires and industrial settlements. In the Washington Convention for the Protection of Species (CITES), the species is listed in Appendix I and is strictly protected, as is the EU regulation on trade in wild animal and plant species. In France and the Netherlands, the trade in Papilio hospiton is prohibited by law. Tolman & Lewington, on the other hand, do not see any threat.

swell

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d e f g Tom Tolman, Richard Lewington: The butterflies of Europe and Northwest Africa . Franckh-Kosmos, Stuttgart 1998, ISBN 3-440-07573-7 . , P. 21
  2. ↑ R. Cianchi, A. Ungaro, M. Marini, L. Bullini: Differential patterns of hybridization and introgression between the swallowtails Papilio machaon and P. hospiton from Sardinia and Corsica islands (Lepidoptera, Papilionidae). In: Molecular ecology. Volume 12, Number 6, June 2003, pp. 1461-1471, PMID 12755875 .
  3. ↑ Collins, N. Mark and Morris, Michael G. and International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources: Threatened swallowtail butterflies of the world: the IUCN red data book. IUCN, 1985, ISBN 2-88032-603-6 , p. 23
  4. ↑ Collins, N. Mark and Morris, Michael G. and International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources: Threatened swallowtail butterflies of the world: the IUCN red data book. IUCN, 1985, ISBN 2-88032-603-6 , p. 93

literature

  • Tom Tolman, Richard Lewington: The butterflies of Europe and Northwest Africa . Franckh-Kosmos, Stuttgart 1998, ISBN 3-440-07573-7 .
  • Blondel, Jacques and Aronson, James: Biology and wildlife of the Mediterranean region. Oxford University Press, 1999, ISBN 0-19-850035-1 , 328 pages
  • Collins, N. Mark and Morris, Michael G. and International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources: Threatened swallowtail butterflies of the world: the IUCN red data book. IUCN, 1985, ISBN 2-88032-603-6 , 401 pages
  • Weiss, Steven and Ferrand, Nuno: Phylogeography of southern European refugia: evolutionary perspectives on the origins and conservation of European biodiversity. Springer, 2007, ISBN 1-4020-4903-X , 377 pages

Web links

Commons : Papilio hospiton  - album with pictures, videos and audio files