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Home » Guide » Arthropods (Arthropoda) » Hexapods (Hexapoda) » Insects (Insecta) » Butterflies and Moths (Lepidoptera) » Butterflies and Skippers (Papilionoidea) » Swallowtails, Parnassians (Papilionidae) » Parnassiinae » Apollos or Parnassians (Parnassiini) » Parnassius » Clodius Parnassian - Hodges#4154 (Parnassius clodius)
Photo#146082
Oblique View - Parnassius clodius - female
Copyright © 2007 Aaron Schusteff

Oblique View - Parnassius clodius - Female
1.3 air miles NNW of Sierra Buttes, Sierra County, California, USA
July 12, 2007
A large, hollow, pinkish-white sphragis is visible here below the rear half of this mated females abdomen. It's formed from a waxy secretion made by the male during mating and functions to prevent other males from mating with the female afterwards. While Parnassius clodius exhibits this remarkable behavior, to my knowledge, relatively few other butterfly species do.

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Oblique View - Parnassius clodius - female Side View - Parnassius clodius - female Top View - Parnassius clodius - female Face on View - Parnassius clodius - female
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Contributed by Aaron Schusteff on 16 September, 2007 - 9:49pm

Aaron, this is indeed a very nice series of photos,
and the sphragis couldn't be any clearer. As far as post-copulatory vaginal plugs, placed by males are concerned, they've been reported for Apollos (Parnassiinae) in general (i.e. P. eversmannii has a moderately large, white to light brown sphragis, smaller & dark brown in P. smintheus; here's a link to a photo of a mated P. mnemosyne from the French Alps. Pyle (1) writes that while some other butterflies possess sphragis, none are as highly visible as in the Parnassians.
Beyond butterflies, other animals seem to have evolved vaginal plugs, including at least one bat sp., some rodents, and some primates (I don't mean medieval knights).
… Hartmut Wisch, 19 September, 2007 - 5:43pm login or register to post comments

 
Thanks Hartmut,
...for the interesting info & links. (I'm curious about the bat and primate!) Glad you enjoyed the photos.
… Aaron Schusteff, 20 September, 2007 - 2:18am login or register to post comments

Interesting info
A particularly nice series.
… Ron Hemberger, 17 September, 2007 - 12:53am login or register to post comments

 
Thanks Ron :-)
...
… Aaron Schusteff, 18 September, 2007 - 10:15pm login or register to post comments

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