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Papilio machaon
The butterfly has a strong and fast flight, but frequently pauses to hover over flowering herbs and sip nectar. It frequents alpine meadows and hillsides, and males are fond of 'hilltopping', congregating near summits to compete for passing females.[2] At lower elevations, it can be seen visiting gardens. Unlike other swallowtails, this species specialises in using plants of family Umbelliferae, females laying eggs singly. Milk parsley Peucedanum palustre (also known as marsh hog's fennel) is normally the only food plant used by the caterpillars of the British subspecies. The food plants of the swallowtail in Europe, Asia, and North America are more varied than in the UK. It uses a wide variety of umbellifers including wild carrot Daucus carota, wild angelica Angelica sylvestris, fennel Foeniculum vulgare, and hogweeds Heracleum spp. In the Maltese Islands, the caterpillar feeds on plants such as rue Ruta chalepensis and fennel Foeniculum vulgare.
This butterfly is present throughout the entire Palearctic region, ranging from Russia to China and Japan, (including the Himalayas and Taiwan), and across into Alaska, Canada, and the United States. In Asia, it is reported as far south as Saudi Arabia, Oman, the high mountains of Yemen, Lebanon, and Israel. In southern Asia, it occurs in Pakistan and Kashmir, northern India (Sikkim, to Assam and Arunachal Pradesh), Nepal, Bhutan, and northern Myanmar. This butterfly is widespread in Europe. In the United Kingdom, it is limited to a few areas in the Norfolk Broads of East Anglia.[4] It is the UK's largest resident butterfly. The Monarch Danaus plexippus is slightly larger, but is only a rare vagrant.
Caterpillar in my garden.
7 Comments
this is amazing! i will try and plant some thing i my garden too :)
Common rue - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Common_rue
Not the most beautiful plant but pays with butterflies :D
Nice!!
Wow that is very nice,what plant can you tell us,so i can plant one too :-)
Thanks for the comments! I have a plant in my garden just for this butterflies :)
Beautiful cache Ricardo,congrats and thanks for sharing
Wow, what amazing colors!!!