(Fabricius, 1793)
Small Apollo
Description:
The Small Apollo occurs in the mountains, especially in damp places, such as beside streams and where it gets flooded from time to time. Such spots are the habitat of Yellow Mountain Saxifrage (Saxifraga aizoides). However, the Small Apollo living in the Mercantour in the south-west of the Alps, use Roseroot (Rhodiola roseum) as their food plant.
Although the eggs are sometimes laid on the food plant, they are also often laid not far from it. The very small caterpillar sometimes passes the winter in the egg, sometimes outside it. The fully-grown caterpillars are black with a row of orange-red or yellow spots along each side. At the beginning of the summer, they spin a flimsy cocoon in which to pupate, either low down on the larval plant, or on the ground.
The Small Apollo is single-brooded.
Habitat:
Alpine grasslands
Mesophile grasslands
Fens
Water-fringe vegetations
Inland cliffs and exposed rocks
Humid grasslands
Similar species:
Parnassius apollo