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Spanish Festoon; Mariposa Arlequín

Zerynthia rumina

Description:

Middle-sized butterfly with a wingspan up to 5 cm. The wings present on their upper face a unique yellow, black and red checkerboard that cannot be confused with any other species. Howevern in South east France it can be confused with the "southern festoon", Zerynthia polyxena. The two can be told apart by the presence of blue on the hindwing of the Southern festoon (Z. polyxena). The Spanish festoon (Z. rumina) also has extensive red on the forewings. There is only one generation flying from February to May. In South Spain and North Africa there is a second brood in September. The caterpillars winter as chrysalids. The caterpillars feed on Aristolochia species, accumulating toxic alkaloids as a defence against predators.

Habitat:

Open evergreen oak and pine tree forest. Dehesa de Valdelatas

Notes:

Camera Model: NIKON D300. Exposure Time: 1/640 sec.; f/13; ISO Speed Rating: 800. Exposure Bias: 0 EV. Focal Length: 300.0 mm. No flash fired

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2 Comments

arlanda
arlanda 6 years ago

Thanks James

JamesPriest2
JamesPriest2 6 years ago

Beautiful

arlanda
Spotted by
arlanda

Madrid, Comunidad de Madrid, Spain

Spotted on Apr 5, 2017
Submitted on May 9, 2017

Related Spottings

Southern Festoon Spanish Festoon Spanish Festoon Spanish Festoon

Nearby Spottings

Wall Brown, Saltacercas Queen of Spain Fritillary; Sofia Common Blue; Dos puntos Spanish Festoon; Mariposa arlequín
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