Parnassius acdestis

Parnassius acdestis
	Female from Lob Noor (Ulster Museum)
Conservation status
	; Data Deficient (IUCN 3.1)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Lepidoptera
Family:	Papilionidae
Genus:	Parnassius
Species:	P. acdestis
Binomial name
	Parnassius acdestis; Grumm-Grshimailo, 1891

Parnassius acdestis is a high-altitude butterfly found in India. It is a member of the genus Parnassius of the swallowtail (Papilionidae) family.

Description

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 P.R. Ackery (1975).^[1]

Hindwing with very narrow marginal band, the submarginal spots isolated, small; the ultracellular costal spot of forewing continued by grey scaling, forming an s-shaped band.^[2]

Subspecies

Parnassius acdestis cerevisiae Weiss & Michel
Parnassius acdestis cinerosus Stichel
Parnassius acdestis felix Eisner
Parnassius acdestis hades (Bryk)
Parnassius acdestis imperatoides Weiss & Michel
Parnassius acdestis irenaephis Bryk
Parnassius acdestis ladakensis Avinoff, 1916
Parnassius acdestis lathonius Bryk
Parnassius acdestis limitis Weiss & Michel
Parnassius acdestis macdonardi Rothschild
Parnassius acdestis manco Koiwaya
Parnassius acdestis ohkuma Koiwaya
Parnassius acdestis peeblesi Bryk
Parnassius acdestis peshkei Eisner, 1933
Parnassius acdestis rupshuana Avinoff, 1916
Parnassius acdestis takedai Mikami & Sakakibara, 1988
Parnassius acdestis vogti (Bang-Haas)
Parnassius acdestis yanae Huang, 1998

Range

Kirghistan, Nepal, northern India (Jammu & Kashmir, Sikkim), Western China, Sinkiang and Szechwan.

Status

Very local. Rather rare. Not known to be threatened.

References

^ Ackery P.R. (1975) A guide to the genera and species of Parnassiinae (Lepidoptera:Papilionidae). Bull. Br. Mus. nat. Hist. (Ent.) 31, 4 pdf
^ Stichel in Seitz, 1906 (Parnassius). Die Groß-Schmetterlinge der Erde. Die Groß-Schmetterlinge des palaearktischen Faunengebietes. Die palaearktischen Tagfalter, Stuttgart.

Collins, N. Mark; Morris, Michael G. (1985). Threatened Swallowtail Butterflies of the World: The IUCN Red Data Book. Gland & Cambridge: IUCN. ISBN 978-2-88032-603-6.
Evans, W.H. (1932). The Identification of Indian Butterflies (2nd ed.). Mumbai, India: Bombay Natural History Society.
Wynter-Blyth, Mark Alexander (1957). Butterflies of the Indian Region. Bombay, India: Bombay Natural History Society. ISBN 978-8170192329.
Sakai S., Inaoka S., Toshiaki A., Yamaguchi S., Watanabe Y., (2002) The Parnassiology. The Parnassius Butterflies, A Study in Evolution, Kodansha, Japan. ISBN 4-06-124051-X
Weiss Jean-Claude, (1999) Parnassiinae of the World, Hillside Books, Canterbury, UK. ISBN 0-9532240-2-3, OCLC 41072974

External links

NRM Holotype of Parnassius acdestis peeblesi Bryk, 1932.

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[1] Ackery P.R. (1975) A guide to the genera and species of Parnassiinae (Lepidoptera:Papilionidae). Bull. Br. Mus. nat. Hist. (Ent.) 31, 4 pdf

[2] Stichel in Seitz, 1906 (Parnassius). Die Groß-Schmetterlinge der Erde. Die Groß-Schmetterlinge des palaearktischen Faunengebietes. Die palaearktischen Tagfalter, Stuttgart.

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