Scarce Swallowtail
Iphiclides podalirius
Males engage in 'hilltopping,' flying to the highest points of hills to establish territories and await receptive females.
- Scientific name
- Iphiclides podalirius
- Taxonomy
- Animalia › Arthropoda › Insecta › Lepidoptera › Papilionidae › Iphiclides
- IUCN Red List status
- Least Concern
- Population trend
- stable
- Biome
- grassland
- Habitat
- Warm, dry grasslands, shrubby hillsides, orchards, and sunny woodland edges.
- Diet
- Adults feed on nectar from wild privet, valerian, and thistles; caterpillars feed on blackthorn, hawthorn, and fruit tree leaves.
- Range
- Europe, North Africa, Western Asia, China
- Size
- Wingspan of 60 to 80 mm
- Lifespan
- 1 to 4 weeks as an adult (up to 12 months total lifecycle including overwintering pupa)
- Active
- diurnal
- Threats
- Agricultural intensification, pesticide use, and the clearing of wild hedgerows containing blackthorn host plants.
- Safe to approach?
- Harmless. You can observe this butterfly from any close distance. Do not touch or grab its wings, as handling can rub off the delicate scales essential for its flight.
The scarce swallowtail ( Iphiclides podalirius ) is a butterfly belonging to the family Papilionidae. It is also called the sail swallowtail or pear-tree swallowtail .
Photo: Radu Teodoreanu, CC-BY, via iNaturalist
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