Scarce swallowtail

The scarce swallowtail (Iphiclides podalirius) is a large Papilionidae butterfly with pale cream-white or pale yellow wings marked by bold black tiger-like stripes and long slender tails, reaching a wingspan of 60–90 mm (males 60–80 mm, females 62–90 mm). It is widespread across central and southern Europe, North Africa, and temperate Asia east to western China, favouring warm open country, orchards, scrubland, and hedgerows. Larvae are oligophagous on Rosaceae, feeding primarily on Prunus species including blackthorn, plum, cherry, and almond, making orchard and garden settings key habitat. Adults are strong gliders that take nectar from a wide range of flowers and are a conspicuous presence wherever Prunus-rich hedgerows or fruit orchards survive.

Larval host plants · 4

Occurs across most of Europe except the northern fringe (absent from Scandinavia, the British Isles as a resident, and Ireland), south through North Africa, east through Asia Minor, the Caucasus, the Arabian Peninsula, Pakistan, India, and western China. The closely related Iberian Scarce Swallowtail (Iphiclides feisthamelii), often treated as a sister species but sometimes listed as a subspecies I. p. feisthamelii, replaces it in the Iberian Peninsula and extends into southern France, Morocco, Algeria, and Tunisia. Occasional strays reach southern Britain and southern Sweden but do not establish.