The Southern Festoon is a striking butterfly belonging to the Papilionidae family of butterflies

Butterfly

A butterfly is a mainly day-flying insect of the order Lepidoptera, which includes the butterflies and moths. Like other holometabolous insects, the butterfly's life cycle consists of four parts: egg, larva, pupa and adult. Most species are diurnal. Butterflies have large, often brightly coloured...

 with a wingspan of 60–80 mm. Its flight time is from April to June in a single brood.

Distribution

SE France

France

The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

, Italy

Italy

Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

 and eastwards to Slovakia

Slovakia

The Slovak Republic is a landlocked state in Central Europe. It has a population of over five million and an area of about . Slovakia is bordered by the Czech Republic and Austria to the west, Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east and Hungary to the south...

 and Greece

Greece

Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....

 covering all the Balkans

Balkans

The Balkans is a geopolitical and cultural region of southeastern Europe...

.

Description

The Southern Festoon (Z. polyxena) is conspicuously colored with a red warning color to deter predators. It can be confused only with the Spanish Festoon

Zerynthia rumina

The Spanish Festoon, Zerynthia rumina, is a butterfly belonging to the family Papilionidae. It is a widespread species in Spain and frequents most habitats.- Description :...

(Z. rumina). The differences are in the presence of blue on the hind wings of Z. polyxena and the relatively lower amount of red on its forewings as compared to Z. rumina. The larvae of Z. polyxena are yellowish with fleshy spikes all over the body. They feed on birthworts (Aristolochia sp.)

External links

• European Butterflies and Moths
• SZMN SZMN Imago and habitat photographs. Siberia.
• TOL
• Globis Gart