Dusted Apollo : High-Altitude Butterfly

Dusted Apollo : High-Altitude Butterfly

Dusted Apollo (Parnassius stenosemus), a rare high-altitude butterfly, has been sighted and photographed for the first time in Himachal Pradesh.

• Dusted Apollo is an extremely rare butterfly and has never been photographed before in Himachal Pradesh.
• It is found from Ladakh to West Nepal and it flies between 3,500 to 4,800 metres in the inner Himalayas.
• It closely resembles Ladakh Banded Apollo (Parnnasius stoliczkanus) but the discal band on the upper fore wing in dusted Apollo is complete and extends from costa to vein one while this discal band is incomplete and extends only up to vein four in Ladakh Banded Apollo.
• There are 11 Apollo species recorded from Himachal Pradesh and five of them are declared as Scheduled species.
• It is an encouraging indication of the flourishing diversity of Apollo butterflies in the region.
• Apollos are considered commercially important butterflies and they fetch high prices in the poaching industry.
• Most of the Apollo butterflies are now endangered and need immediate attention for their conservation and protection.