False Apollo
The false Apollo is a butterfly with pale, delicate wings. Its front wings are grey with lots of fine dark lines. Its back wings are chalky white, with a dark border full of red spots that have blue middles.
How fast is it?
Fun facts
As it gets older, it loses the tiny scales on its wings, and the wings become almost see-through, like glass.
Females are darker and a bit sturdier than males.
Some have a lot of red on their back wings, while others have very thin wings with hardly any markings.
A very similar butterfly from the mountains was only recently found to be a separate species.
Most asked questions about False Apollo
?Where does the false Apollo live?
In south-eastern Europe and West Asia, for example in Greece, Turkey, Syria, Israel and Lebanon.
?What does the false Apollo eat?
Its caterpillars eat birthwort plants. The grown-up butterflies drink flower nectar.
?Is the false Apollo dangerous?
No. It is a gentle butterfly that cannot bite or sting.
For bug experts
- Scientific name
- Archon apollinus
- Named by
- Herbst, 1789
- Group
- Butterflies
- Family
- Papilionidae
- Classification
- Insecta > Lepidoptera > Papilionidae
- Lives on
- Europe, Asia
Where the facts come from
- Archon apollinus (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0): what it looks like, where it lives, what it eats, sizes and fun facts, retold in simple words.
- Picture by Gideon Pisanty ( Gidip ) ืืืขืื ืคืืื ืื. CC BY 3.0, Wikimedia Commons. The sticker of this bug is drawn from this picture.
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