| Family | Papilionidae |
|---|---|
| Subfamily | Papilioninae |
| Genus | Iphiclides |
| Species | podalirius |
| Authority | (Linnaeus, 1758) |
| English Name | Scarce Swallowtail |
| European Red List 2010 | Least Concern (LC) |
|---|---|
| EU 27 Red List 2010 | Least Concern (LC) |
| European Red List 2025 | Least Concern (LC) |
| EU 27 Red List 2025 | Least Concern (LC) |
| Habitats Directive | |
| Bern Convention | |
| CITES |
This large, conspicuous butterfly with its elegant gliding flight, is very impressive. It occurs in warm, dry places with scrub and rough vegetation. The males of the Scarce Swallowtail congregate on hilltops, dancing in the air and waiting for the females, a type of behaviour known as “hill- topping”. They visit thistles and other flowers rich in nectar. The eggs are laid on the leaves of small bushes or trees of Blackthorn (Prunus spinosa) and other species of Prunus. The caterpillars feed on the leaves. When fully-grown, they pupate, the pupa suspended in a silken girdle in the foodplant. Depending on its position in the range and on the altitude, the Scarce Swallowtail has one to three generations a year.
Albania / Austria / Belarus (Irregular Vagrant) / Belgium / Belgium: Flanders (Irregular Vagrant) / Belgium: Wallonia / Bosnia and Herzegovina / Bulgaria / Croatia / Czechia / Denmark (Irregular Vagrant) / Finland (Irregular Vagrant) / France / France: Mainland / France: Corsica / Germany / Greece / Greece: Mainland / Greece: East Aegean Islands / Greece: Kirti (Crete) / Hungary / Italy / Italy: Mainland / Italy: Sardinia (Irregular Vagrant) / Italy: Sicily / Latvia (Irregular Vagrant) / Liechtenstein / Lithuania (Irregular Vagrant) / Luxembourg (Regionally Extinct) / Monaco / North Macedonia / Moldova / Montenegro / Netherlands (Irregular Vagrant) / Poland / Romania / European Russia / San Marino / Serbia / Serbia: Serbia / Serbia: Kosovo / Slovakia / Slovenia / Spain / Spain: Mainland / Sweden (Irregular Vagrant) / Switzerland / European Türkiye / Ukraine / United Kingdom: Jersey (Irregular Vagrant) /