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rare
Apollo Butterfly
Parnassius apollo
- Habitat
- High-altitude alpine meadows across Europe and Central Asia, 400–2300m elevation
- Wingspan
- 85 mm
- Order
- Lepidoptera · Papilionidae
Weird but real
Translucent white wings dotted with red eyespots ringed in black. Lives only on rocky alpine slopes where its caterpillar food plant (stonecrop) grows. Climate change is pushing it higher up mountains until there's nowhere left to climb.
Why it's cool
A butterfly built for thin air and cold stone. The red eyespots are warning signals — its body holds toxins absorbed from stonecrop, making it foul to birds.
