Subject:  Cretan Festoon butterflies
Geographic location of the bug:  Plakias, Crete
Date: 04/10/2019
Time: 05:08 PM EDT
Your letter to the bugman:  hi there!. You have published some of my pictures before, so I thought you might like these shots I got the past week of male and female Cretan Festoons, Zerynthia cretica at the cliffs near Plakias in Crete. I also have a picture of the weird-looking food plant, Aristolochia cretica, with very strange flowers.
How you want your letter signed:  Butterfly twitcher

Cretan Festoon male

Dear Butterfly twitcher,
We were not familiar with the common name Festoon.  To our eyes, these are what we have always known as Apollo Butterflies or Parnassians.  Upon doing some research on RawBirds.com, we learned that the Cretan Festoon, Zerynthia cretica, is “an Old World swallowtail butterfly in the family Papilionidae which is in the genus Allancastria. This endemic species is found only on the Greek island of Crete but some authorities consider it to be a subspecies of the Eastern Festoon (Zerynthia cerisyi) and give it the scientific name (Zerynthia cerisyi cretica). The flight period is from mid-March to June. After the egg laying stage, the caterpillars hatch out to feed on the endemic Cretan Dutchman’s Pipe (Aristolochia cretensis). They then overwinter as a pupae and in mid to late spring emerge as butterflies.”  Additional images can be found on Red List and on Euro Butterflies it states:  “Formerly considered as a subspecies of the eastern festoon Z. cerisy it is now more often considered as a species. The two species are clearly very similar. Being geographically isolated on Crete it’s not surprising that differences appear, even to the extent of diverging into two species. It’s not the only endemic on the island.”  Additional information includes:  “Habitat & Behaviour: Grassy scrubland and open woodland. More active in the morning, being much harder to find in the afternoon. It flies unhurriedly up and down slopes, frequently stopping for nectar and to rest on bushes, grasses and the ground. Easily spotted at the roadside while driving through suitable habitat. I also found one flying over the beach and out to see some 20 or 30m before it turned back to land.”  Thanks so much for sending in your awesome images as well as an image of the endemic food plant, the Cretan Dutchman’s Pipes

Cretan Festoon female

Cretan Dutchman Pipes

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Subject:  Giant Swallowtail Puddling
Geographic location of the bug:  Hialeah Florida
Date: 03/15/2019
Time: 12:05 PM EDT
Your letter to the bugman:  I was cleaning out algae-muck from my pool on March 3 and this Giant Swallowtail spent a long time drinking the dampness from it, so I was able to get a few really nice photos of it that I thought you might like.
I don’t see them very often, but twice I found them puddling when I’d done yard work and left water on cement/tile. I’m guessing that being so large, they need more moisture than the average butterfly, and so sometimes nectar just isn’t enough.
How you want your letter signed:  Marian

Puddling Giant Swallowtail

Dear Marian,
Your images of a puddling Giant Swallowtail are beautiful.  It is our understanding that butterflies newly emerged from the Chrysalis drink from puddles to get important minerals as well as moisture.  The Swallowtails, the Blues and the Sulphur Butterflies are among the most frequent puddlers.  It is also our understanding that males are more frequently found at puddles than are female butterflies.

Giant Swallowtail

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Subject:  Hungarian Butterflies
Geographic location of the bug:  Hungary May 2018
Date: 08/15/2018
Time: 03:18 PM EDT
Your letter to the bugman:  Hello there!
I have sent a few of my butterfly pictures to you in the past and I thought you might like a couple more for your site from a trip I made to Hungary earlier this year. The first is a Common Glider, the second is a Scarce Swallowtail
How you want your letter signed:  Butterfly watcher

Scarce Swallowtail

Dear Butterfly watcher,
Thank you so much for clarifying the date of this sighting, which differs considerably from your submission date.  The Scarce Swallowtail, Iphiclides podalirius, is a new species for our site.  According to Learn about Butterflies:  “Iphiclides podalirius is distributed across most of central and southern Europe, excluding the British Isles, Ireland and Fennoscandia.
Its common name Scarce Swallowtail refers to the fact that it has on extremely rare occasions been recorded in Britain, e.g. in 1895 two specimens were captured, one in Devon and the other in Kent. These may however have been ‘fake’ captures, a practice common in the Victorian era when collectors would do almost anything to raise their status among their contemporaries. There is no evidence that the species was ever a resident or regular migrant to the British Isles.
In Europe the butterfly is widespread and fairly common, although it has become much scarcer in recent years as a result of the removal of blackthorn bushes and hedges.”  The site also states:  “Both sexes are usually encountered singly. Males visit seepages and patches of damp soil where they imbibe mineralised moisture. At such times they keep their wings firmly closed.  Females are more often seen nectaring at the flowers of trees and bushes including apple, pear, cherry, lilac and Buddleia, but also visit herbaceous plants including valerian, bugle, thistles, knapweeds, ragwort and stonecrop. When nectaring the wings are usually held at a 45° angle.”  It is also pictured on UK Butterflies.

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