Parnassius mnemosyne (Linnaeus, 1758)


Parnassius mnemosyne: Male (Valais, Switzerland) [N] Parnassius mnemosyne: Male (Valais, Switzerland) [N] Parnassius mnemosyne: Male (Greece, Euboea, Dirphys, late May 2022) [N] Parnassius mnemosyne: Male (Greece, Euboea, Dirphys, late May 2022) [N] Parnassius mnemosyne: Male (Greece, Peloponnese, Mount Chelmos, 1600m, late May 2017) [N] Parnassius mnemosyne: Male (Olympus, 2500m above sea level, late July 2010) [N] Parnassius mnemosyne: Male (N-Greece, Vitsi N Kastoria, 1700m asl, late June 2013) [N] Parnassius mnemosyne: Male (N-Greece, Vitsi N Kastoria, 1700m asl, late June 2013) [N] Parnassius mnemosyne: Male (N-Greece, Vitsi N Kastoria, 1700m asl, late June 2013) [N] Parnassius mnemosyne: Male (N-Greece, Vitsi N Kastoria, 1700m asl, late June 2013) [N] Parnassius mnemosyne: Female (Valais, Switzerland) [N] Parnassius mnemosyne: Female with Sphragis (Allgäu, German Alps) [N] Parnassius mnemosyne: Sphragis (Valais, Switzerland) [N] Parnassius mnemosyne: Female-lower side [N] Parnassius mnemosyne: Male (Swabian Alb, Southern Germany) [N] Parnassius mnemosyne: Ovum [S] Parnassius mnemosyne: Ovum Parnassius mnemosyne: L1-larva Parnassius mnemosyne: L1-larva Parnassius mnemosyne: L2-larva Parnassius mnemosyne: L3-larva Parnassius mnemosyne: Half-grown larva (Mount Vitsi near Kastoria, N-Greece, May 2014) [N] Parnassius mnemosyne: Half-grown larva (Mount Vitsi near Kastoria, N-Greece, May 2014) [N] Parnassius mnemosyne: Half-grown larva (Mount Vitsi near Kastoria, N-Greece, May 2014) [N] Parnassius mnemosyne: Half-grown larva (France, Alpes-Maritimes, 1000m asl, April 2013) [N] Parnassius mnemosyne: Half-grown larva (France, Alpes-Maritimes, 1000m asl, April 2013) [N] Parnassius mnemosyne: Larva (Alpes-Maritimes 2013) [S] Parnassius mnemosyne: Larva (Allgäu Alps, Southern Germany) [N] Parnassius mnemosyne: Larva (Allgäu Alps, Southern Germany) [N] Parnassius mnemosyne: Larva (Allgäu, Nagelfluhkette, May 2009) [N] Parnassius mnemosyne: Larva (Allgäu Alps, Nagelfluhkette, May 2009) [N] Parnassius mnemosyne: Larva (Allgäu Alps, S-Bavaria, Nagelfluhkette, May 2009) [N] Parnassius mnemosyne: Half-grown larva (Valais, Switzerland) Parnassius mnemosyne: Larva (colour form, Valais, Switzerland) Parnassius mnemosyne: Larva (color form, Valais, Switzerland) Parnassius mnemosyne: Larva (color form, Valais, Switzerland) Parnassius mnemosyne: Larva (color form, Valais, Switzerland) Parnassius mnemosyne: Larva (Romania, Sighisoara, early May 2021) [N] Parnassius mnemosyne: Larva (Romania, Sighisoara, early May 2021) [N] Parnassius mnemosyne: Larva (Romania, Sighisoara, early May 2021) [N] Parnassius mnemosyne: Cocoon Parnassius mnemosyne: Pupa Parnassius mnemosyne: Pupa Parnassius mnemosyne: Pupa prior to emergence (Valais, Switzerland) Parnassius mnemosyne: Feeding scars on Corydalis, young larva on old beech leaf (N-Greece, Mount Vitsi, May 2014) [N] Parnassius mnemosyne: Larval habitat on Mount Vitsi in May 2014 (N-Greece) [N] Parnassius mnemosyne: Larval habitat on Mount Vitsi in May 2014 (N-Greece) [N] Parnassius mnemosyne: Larval habitat (Allgäu Alps, S-Bavaria) [N] Parnassius mnemosyne: Habitat (Allgäu Alps, S-Bavaria, May 2009) [N] Parnassius mnemosyne: Habitat at the time of the fully-grown larva (Allgäu Alps, S-Bavaria, May 2009) [N] Parnassius mnemosyne: Habitat at flight time [N] Parnassius mnemosyne: Habitat in the Valais at larval time Parnassius mnemosyne: Habitat in the Valais: fresh meadows with stone walls, woods and tall herbs [N] Parnassius mnemosyne: Habitat in the Valais: small snow-free bumpsl with Corydalis Parnassius mnemosyne: Habitat on N-Greek Mount Vitsi along a beech forest (late June 2013) [N] Parnassius mnemosyne: Larval habitat with Corydalis solida in the French Alpes-Maritimes in April 2013 [N] Parnassius mnemosyne: Larval habitat with Corydalis solida in the French Alpes-Maritimes in April 2013 [N] Parnassius mnemosyne: Habitat at the Greek Olymp: alpine grasslands with Corydalis in 2500m above sea level. In late July 2010 I also recorded Erebia medusa there. [N] Parnassius mnemosyne: Habitat (Greece, Euboea, Dirphys, late May 2022) [N] Parnassius mnemosyne: Habitat (Greece, Euboea, Dirphys, late May 2022) [N] Parnassius mnemosyne: Larval habitat (Romania, Sighisoara, early May 2021) [N] Parnassius mnemosyne: Larval habitat (Romania, Sighisoara, early May 2021) [N] Parnassius mnemosyne: Habitat (Romania, Sighisoara, early May 2021) [N]

Host plants:
Corydalis species such as especially Corydalis cava and Corydalis intermedia.

Habitat:
Parnassius mnemosyne inhabits forest gap systems, forest meadows or moist forest margins. It needs at flight time uncut, flower-rich meadows in contact with open forest edges with Corydalis stocks.
In the Alps and other mountain ranges it also occurs on bumpy pastures with rock piles, boulders or between open dwarf Pinus mugo stocks, so in the Austrian Rätikon in over 1800m above sea level. Here the local host plant Corydalis intermedia grows particularly in the edges of rocks and on rock piles. In the Allgäu Alps (Germany) I observe Parnassius mnemosyne since more than 20 years (1988 - 2009) at about 1500m above sea level under a single group of trees with Corydalis cava in a forest gap system. There occur also Boloria thore, Boloria titania and Polyommatus eumedon.

Life cycle:
Parnassius mnemosyne hibernates as a caterpillar in the egg and has a rapid development with only three moults since the spring geophyt Corydalis soon dries up. The adults fly from May to July (in the mountains). On the Greek Mount Olympus I observed fresh males together with Erebia medusa at 2500m above sea level in mid-July 2010.

Endangerment factors:
Outside of the higher regions of the Alps Parnassius mnemosyne is threatened with extinction by intense meadow management(fertilization, frequent cutting), drainage and compaction of forest structures (dense afforestation, strict forest edges without steps).
In the Alps the butterfly is locally threatened by forest/pasture separation, more intense management of pastures (elimination of rock piles and shrubs, fertilization, overgrazing) and human activities of all kinds. It still occurs more frequently for example in the Southwestern Alps (Alpes-Maritimes).

Remarks:
Parnassius mnemosyne is sometimes confused with the veined white Aporia crataegi.

The distribution extends from the Pyrenees locally across the European mountains and Scandinavia to the Tien Shan. In Central Europe north of the Alps, however, Parnassius mnemosyne has only nostalgic memory character except for a few places (e.g. central and western Swabian Alb)



Parnassius apollo | Parnassius phoebus