Southern Swallowtail (Papilio alexanor)

[Medard]

Southern Swallowtail (Papilio alexanor)
https://jamesgibbs6929.zenfolio.com

High on many peoples list of must see butterflies is the elusive Southern Swallowtail without doubt one of the most sought after butterflies of France

Previous visits to the Vaucluse department of France with the hopes of finding this iconic butterfly had not been successful so I planned another visit to the region in 2017 this time concentrating on the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence in the hopes of meeting with the Southern Swallowtail (Papilio alexanor), this time I had more detailed information and location maps kindly provided by a French friend.
Even though, I had no high hopes, success can never be guaranteed, nevertheless My Wife and I set off with my guiding principal of nothing ventured nothing gained.

We first visited the locations where my friend had had previous sightings but drew a blank although the locations fitted the environment preferences of Alex.

We continued searching around the district looking for likely habitat that might give us a sighting of our elusive quarry but without success, disappointed I resigned myself to failure.

That's a likely looking place my wife called out as I concentrated on negotiating a dangerous bend, when possible make a u turn,
doubling back we parked up in a disused quarry I got out to take a look around and to my amazement three Swallowtails were seen putting on a display of aerobatics, but were they Alexanors ?
My first photos confirmed my hopes, I was in luck my efforts had not been in vain.
The opportunity to observe this exciting find was too good to miss, I soon took more shots even though Alex is an extremely difficult species to photograph.

We spent time watching as the female laid her eggs on the host plant (ptychotis saxifraga) she made regular passes though the quarry passing all but the ptychotis plants searching for suitable plants that she instinctively recognised, not all plants were deemed suitable and many were passed by, she rarely stopped to nectar, hovering over her selected plants, her wings fluttering continuously she laid her eggs.

I marked the plants she had visited, they were examined with the aid of a powerful magnifying glass and checked for eggs, one particular plant situated on a steep scree slope had been frequently visited and had numerous eggs, the steepness of the slope and a strong breezy wind made macro photography difficult but I did manage some passable shots of the eggs, later followed by the newly emerged larvae.
We then took a break to visit another favourite site and returned a week or so later, the larvae had grown but it appeared that a high rate of loss had taken place, the plants had been desiccated by the excessive heat in the quarry, regrettably we left before the remaining larvae had reached an advanced stage of maturity.

My plans to return this year 2020 in the hopes of seeing this beautiful butterfly again have been dashed, another casualty of the Corvus curse.

Southern Swallowtail (Papilio alexanor)

Southern Swallowtail (Papilio alexanor)

Southern Swallowtail (Papilio alexanor)

Southern Swallowtail (Papilio alexanor) Egge

Southern Swallowtail (Papilio alexanor) Egge

Southern Swallowtail (Papilio alexanor) larvae

Southern Swallowtail (Papilio alexanor) larvae

https://jamesgibbs6929.zenfolio.com/p18 ... #he7cf284b Southern Swallowtail (Papilio alexanor)

[David M]

Lovely reportage, Jim. This is a much sought after species and I have personally yet to see it.

Sadly, it remains amongst the most 'collectable' species in western Europe, meaning that any locations where it is found must be kept private.

Hopefully you'll get another chance to see it either this year or, at latest, next.

[selbypaul]

Thanks for sharing this Jim. It's definitely up there on my target species list to see and photograph.

I hadn't realised, David, that it was so highly prized by collectors. Such a shame!

[Medard]

Hello David ,Paul, yes the subspecies Papilio alexanor destelensis was wiped out by collectors , no other colonies have as yet been found according to a French Friend, despite numerous attempts, however if you read this article below concering Papilio alexanor there is hope .
For those who do not read French ,Copy and Past the two links below into Google translate, it does a good job.

Papilio alexanor destelensis
viewtopic.php?t=10920&start=0#p160284

Papilio alexanor
http://www.insecte.org/forum/viewtopic. ... 08f35e3b43
Extract.

Papilio alexanor, l’Alexanor

Unique survivant de faunes révolues et depuis longtemps disparues, l’Alexanor n’a pas de parents proches. Il est isolé dans la classification, et ne s’hybride avec aucune autre espèce.
Sa qualité de fossile vivant ne l’empêche pas d’être vigoureux et de faire preuve d’un dynamisme étonnant.
En France, il est cantonné dans les montagnes du sud est, surtout de 400m à 1500m.
Dans l’arrière pays toulonnais, la sous-espèce bien caractérisée P. alexanor Destelensis vole même à plus basse altitude, mais la disparition de ses biotopes par l’afforestation ou l’urbanisme a réduit de façon drastique ses effectifs.
Comme bon nombre d’espèces protégées, il n’a qu’une seule génération annuelle au début de l’été.

The sole survivor of bygone and long-extinct faunas, the Alexanor has no close relatives. It is isolated in classification, and does not hybridize with any other species.
Its quality as a living fossil does not prevent it from being vigorous and showing astonishing dynamism.
In France, it is confined in the mountains of the south east, especially from 400m to 1500m.

https://jamesgibbs6929.zenfolio.com

[Roger Gibbons]

First off, Jim, your third photo is the best I have seen of alexanor. Terrific photo of a sublime species. It’s why we do it.

Great that our mutual friend was able to tell you where to look, and you found your quarry in a quarry. I sometimes get told about secret locations of rare species in 100% confidence as you have been, Jim, and the existence of collectors (French not British) is why we have to keep it confidential.

As you note, the subspecies destelensis is now considered extinct. From what I hear, it was a lady who removed all of the caterpillars from the last known location. This location was in southern Var and I made quite a few trips there to look for it over several years about ten years ago, with no success. However, much of this region is unexplored from a lepidoptera perspective, so it is just possible that it will pop up somewhere.

My wife occasionally muses about which species has cost us the most to find. It is close between iolas, duponcheli and alexanor, but the latter is considered the most expensive. The first time I saw it was in 2013 when I watched several of them flying non-stop for hours on end, even when egg-laying. I was told of another site in 2014 (also a quarry – exceptionally species-rich) when they flew up and down rocky scree only stopping to nectar on Valerian but at least allowing distance shots. Then, late afternoon, one female came down and settled not far from me with wings open. Since then I have seen it in other locations, but it is still very localised and unlikely to be found by chance.

It is surprising that the male is much smaller than the female and much more strongly yellow. It is also surprising in that it is (I think) the only species that roosts with open wings.

This year I was very surprised to chance upon one in the Tinée valley which I posted on UKB. This was cited as a former stronghold of alexanor but in so many “former strongholds” (of so many rare species) are no longer strongholds at all, and I think there may not have been any recent sightings in this region. I noted to David M that if the Greenwings tour takes in its usual visit to the Col de la Bonnette, then a stop off at the St Dalmas track alongside the Tinée river may be fruitful.

Mentioning quarries, there was one near the alexanor location in Vaucluse. Among many butterfly species there, I saw a hawkmoth I did not recognise: https://www.butterfliesoffrance.com/mot ... lio_35699)__
A hawkmoth expert politely cast doubt on whether I knew what I was talking about and equally politely asked me to produce a photo. He said he had never seen it or even heard of it, so I’m concluding that it isn’t common. In fact, it is said to be threatened with extinction.

Roger