ONH

American Apollo

Parnassius clodius

  • 1635
  • 3303
  • 3279
  • 3280
  • 3317
  • 3382
  • 8267
  • 8282
  • 8296
  • 1635
    1 - American Apollo, Parnassius clodius, female.

    07/18/2006 Heart O' the Hills Area, Olympic National Park, Washington

  • 3303
    2 - American Apollo, female. The sphragus is visible in this image.

    07/18/2006 Heart O' the Hills Area, Olympic National Park, Washington

  • 3279
    3 - American Apollo, female. The sphragus is clearly visible in this image.

    07/18/2006 Heart O' the Hills Area, Olympic National Park, Washington

  • 3280
    4 - American Apollo, female. The sphragus is visible in this image.

    07/18/2006 Heart O' the Hills Area, Olympic National Park, Washington

  • 3317
    5 - American Apollo, female. The sphragus is visible in this image.

    07/18/2006 Heart O' the Hills Area, Olympic National Park, Washington

  • 3382
    6 - American Apollo, female. The sphragus is clearly visible in this image.

    07/18/2006 Heart O' the Hills Area, Olympic National Park, Washington

  • 8267
    8 - American Apollo, male.

    07/18/2006 Heart O' the Hills Area, Olympic National Park, Washington

  • 8282
    9 - American Apollo, male. Note the hairy upper abdomen, characteristic of the male of this species.

    07/18/2006 Heart O' the Hills Area, Olympic National Park, Washington

  • 8296
    10 - American Apollo, male. The solid black antennae are clearly visible in this image.

    07/18/2006 Heart O' the Hills Area, Olympic National Park, Washington

The American Apollo, Parnassius clodius is also called the Clodius Parnassian and Clodius Apollo.

The female has extensive transparent areas on the forewings, a shiny, almost hairless abdomen and a prominent red bar on the hindwing. If she’s already mated, she carries a white, shell-shaped structure at the end of her abdomen called a sphragus. The male deposits the sphragus during mating, presumably to prevent the female from mating again.

The male has a hairy abdomen and less transparency on the forewing.

Both sexes sport beautiful red and black spots on the cream-colored hind wings, but no red spots on the forewings. The spots on the underside of the hind wing have a white center. At nearly 3 inches, Parnassius clodius appears showy on the wing. The antennae in this species are solid black. The similar Parnassius smintheus (aka P. phoebus) has black-and-white antennae.