''Parnassius bremeri'' is a high altitude

butterfly Butterflies are winged insects from the lepidopteran superfamily Papilionoidea, characterized by large, often brightly coloured wings that often fold together when at rest, and a conspicuous, fluttering flight. The oldest butterfly fossi ...

which is found in

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

Korea Korea is a peninsular region in East Asia consisting of the Korean Peninsula, Jeju Island, and smaller islands. Since the end of World War II in 1945, it has been politically Division of Korea, divided at or near the 38th parallel north, 3 ...

and

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

. It is a member of the snow Apollo genus (''

Parnassius ''Parnassius'' is a genus of northern circumpolar and montane (alpine and Himalayan) butterflies usually known as Apollos or snow Apollos. They can vary in colour and form significantly based on their altitude. They also exhibit altitudinal mel ...

'') of the swallowtail family (

Papilionidae Swallowtail butterflies are large, colorful Butterfly, butterflies in the family Papilionidae, and include over 550 species. Though the majority are tropical, members of the family inhabit every continent except Antarctica. The family includ ...

). Over its vast range (

Transbaikal Transbaikal, Trans-Baikal, Transbaikalia ( rus, Забайка́лье, r=Zabaykal'ye, p=zəbɐjˈkalʲjɪ), or Dauria (, ''Dauriya'') is a mountainous region to the east of or "beyond" (trans-) Lake Baikal at the south side of the eastern Si ...

, the

Amur The Amur River () or Heilong River ( zh, s=黑龙江) is a perennial river in Northeast Asia, forming the natural border between the Russian Far East and Northeast China (historically the Outer Manchuria, Outer and Inner Manchuria). The Amur ...

and

Ussuri The Ussuri ( ; ) or Wusuli ( ) is a river that runs through Khabarovsk and Primorsky Krais, Russia and the southeast region of Northeast China in the province of Heilongjiang. It rises in the Sikhote-Alin mountain range, flowing north and formi ...

regions and the

Kuriles The Kuril Islands or Kurile Islands are a volcanic archipelago administered as part of Sakhalin Oblast in the Russian Far East. The islands stretch approximately northeast from Hokkaido in Japan to Kamchatka Peninsula in Russia, separating the ...

), the species varies widely in morphology and many

subspecies In Taxonomy (biology), biological classification, subspecies (: subspecies) is a rank below species, used for populations that live in different areas and vary in size, shape, or other physical characteristics (Morphology (biology), morpholog ...

have been described. ''P. bremeri'' is found in open landscapes on

forest-steppe A forest steppe is a temperate-climate ecotone and habitat type composed of grassland interspersed with areas of woodland or forest. Locations Forest steppe primarily occurs in a belt of forest steppes across northern Eurasia from the eastern ...

, as well as slopes with woodlands up to the

alpine zone Alpine tundra is a type of natural region or biome that does not contain trees because it is at high elevation, with an associated alpine climate, harsh climate. As the latitude of a location approaches the poles, the threshold elevation for alp ...

(1,500 m.). The flight period is May and June. Known host plants are: ''

Sedum ''Sedum'' is a large genus of flowering plants in the family Crassulaceae, members of which are commonly known as stonecrops. The genus has been described as containing up to 600 species, subsequently reduced to 400–500. They are leaf succule ...

'' - ''Sedum clizoorl'', ''S. ussuriensis'', ''S. ishida'' and ''

Orostachys ''Orostachys'' is a genus of the succulent family Crassulaceae (stonecrop family) that contains about 15 species. It is a biennial herb growing in China, Japan, Kazakhstan, Korea, Mongolia, Russia. Eight species occur in China. Description ''Or ...

malacophylla''.

Description

It is similar to ''

Parnassius phoebus ''Parnassius phoebus'', known as the Phoebus Apollo or small Apollo, is a butterfly species of the swallowtail butterfly family, Papilionidae, found in the Palearctic and North America. ''P. phoebus'' is found in the Alps, Urals, Siberia, Kazakh ...

'' but smaller and with wing veins almost indistinct against the ground color. The hindwing has a red basal spot. Note: The wing pattern in ''Parnassius'' species is inconsistent and the very many subspecies and forms make identification problematic and uncertain. Structural characters derived from the genitalia, wing venation, sphragis and foretibial epiphysis are more, but not entirely reliable. The description given here is a guide only. For an identification key see Ackery P.R. (1975). White, with black veins. Forewing with two black elongate cell spots, two costal spots situated beyond the cell, a blackish submarginal band, often represented only by some vestiges, a narrow vitreous distal margin in apical portion of edge, and a blackish spot at the hind margin. Hindwing with two red ocelli bordered with black, the anterior one being usually the purer in colour and larger; further, the black abdominal area produced forward at apex of cell into a tooth-like projection; anal spots incomplete; a red spot at base above, while below there are four large red basal spots with blackish borders, and a continuous line of blackish, often obsolete, submarginal spots. Antenna blackish brown. Fringes of wings black, or partly whitish, especially on hindwing, a marginal line being black. Female rather larger than male, upperside more or less powdered with blackish scaling, the black markings intensified, ill-defined, anal spots of hindwing more distinctly marked, there being, moreover, a blackish, shadowy, submarginal band. Pouch small, leaf shaped, pointed, on the broad portion of its under surface a longitudinal carina. Stichel in Seitz, 1906 (Parnassius). ''Die Groß-Schmetterlinge der Erde''. Die Groß-Schmetterlinge des palaearktischen Faunengebietes. Die palaearktischen Tagfalter, Stuttgart.

Subspecies

Partial list *''P. b. conjunctus'' Staudinger, 1901 Ussuri *''P. b. graeseri'' Honrath, 1885 Transbaikalia *''P. b. amgunensis'' Sheljuzhko, 1928 Lower Amur region *''P. b. hakutozana'' Matsumura, 1927

*''P. b. orotschonica'' Bang-Haas, 1927

Sikhote-Alin The Sikhote-Alin (, , , ) is a mountain range in Primorsky and Khabarovsk Krais, Russia, extending about to the northeast of the Russian Pacific seaport of Vladivostok. The highest summits are Tordoki Yani at above sea level, Ko Mountain () ...

*''P. b. solonensis'' Bang-Haas, 1927 Sichotin Alin Mountains *''P. b. pakianus'' Murayama, 1964 South Korea *''P. b. lumen'' Eisner, 1968 Andong, Korea *''P. b. nipponus'' Kreuzberg, 1992

Kunashir Island Kunashir Island (; ; ), possibly meaning ''Black Island'' or ''Grass Island'' in Ainu, is the southernmost island of the Kuril Islands. The island has been under Russian administration since the end of World War II, when Soviet forces took po ...

Description

Subspecies

References

Further reading