Parnassiology. From Rhyme to Crime
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© Stanislav Korb, 2025
ISBN 978-5-0065-6249-3
Created with Ridero smart publishing system
Some Introduction
Apollos, or Parnassiini, is a tribus of swallowtails, numbering, according to various estimates, from 48 to 54 species in the Palearctic, and about 57—59 species in total. Having no economic significance, these butterflies, however, are well known to almost everyone: The Apollo butterfly (Parnassius apollo (Linnaeus, 1758), one of the largest butterflies in Europe, is often found in advertising, on postage stamps, posters, etc.
Representatives of Parnassiini are a commercial group of insects with all the ensuing consequences. Within the tribus, there are both «valuable» and not very «valuable» species – accordingly, with different approaches to covering their distribution. For example, the last of the described species of Parnassiini in all guides to butterflies of Kyrgyzstan has a very vaguely designated range. The reason for this is the desire to keep the locality unknown to most collectors for as long as possible, so as not to generate competition in the market. Although the type locality of this species has long been an open secret, the literature continues to conceal the location known to everyone.
Commercialization of the group makes relatively accessible (albeit very expensive) material for research, but it completely deprives the data on the distribution of particularly «valuable» species of confidence. The tradition of falsifying labels and even an entire series of specimens has existed for a long time and continues to this day.
It can be said that parnassiology is a fairly independent, complex, unpredictable, and at the same time very primitive field of lepidopterology, the evolution of which stopped at the study of individual variability. Even molecular studies continue to support the anachronistic taxonomy of the tribus, despite the obvious need for its reorganization following the resulting numerous and strikingly similar phylogenies. Alas, modern researchers prefer to remain in the arms of outdated, but widespread, traditions.
The world’s first Parnassiini system, proposed in 1855 by Ménétriès, was based on the red spots on the upper surface of the hind wing: their presence/absence and location. The genus was divided into a group with red spots on the wings and a group without them. Unfortunately, the system was not set nomenclatural: not a single new genus-group name was proposed. The first system of Parnassiini with scientific names was proposed by Austaut in 1889 and was based on the structure of the female sphragis, but it did not last long. The names had the formal form of family-group names, which is not applicable in the case of generic taxonomy. The next system, developed by Stichel in 1906, was based on wing venation, but Stichel did not divide the genus Parnassius s.l. into any groups other than those already identified by Austaut (in fact, Stichel borrowed the principle of forming names from him). Almost at the same time, a system based on the structure of the male genital structures and differences in the wing pattern began to be developed: it was made by Moore in 1902 and by Bryk in 1935). Ackery in his famous «Guide to the species and genera of Parnassiinae’ published in 1975 did not use generic names in the system he proposed, replacing them with the term «group»; this system was used for a long time in the works of most parnassiologists (and is sometimes used today). The last reformation of the subfamily system based on genital morphology was made by Korshunov in 1988 and 1990: he established 4 new generic group names, and also raised the status of the genus Parnassius sensu Ackery, 1975 to a tribus with the establishment of new subtribes Parnassiina, Koramiina, and Sachaenina, dividing them into genera and subgenera.
Collections. Main driver of parnassiology.
In addition to the systems listed above, there are minor modifications proposed by several authors such as Ford, Munroe, Eisner, Higgins, Hiura, Hancock, Igarashi, and Koçak. The most complete modern reviews of Parnassiini, published over the past quarter century, belong to Weiss and his co-authors Rose and Rigout, and to Sakai with his co-authors. In the beautiful books, written by these authors, they analyzed a huge amount of material from many private and public collections; however, the authors pay maximum attention to subspecies, often leaving taxonomy and systematics at the species and especially at the generic level almost without attention.
The use of the rank of «subspecies» in parnassiology has always been very controversial. Some authors ignore the taxonomic category of «subspecies», considering it (and not without reason) ecological, and there are authors who describe new subspecies from each meadow or each hill.
The determination of a subspecies is considered justified if all individuals of the population (according to another definition – at least 75% of individuals) differ from individuals of another population in characteristic features, and these differences are also genetically fixed. That means, the characteristic features can be traced at least in a series of several generations. However, this rule is very arbitrary and can be juggled very successfully – especially in cases where populations do not have reproductive barriers. For example, the range of a species is such that one population replaces another and there is a free gene flow; in such cases, it often turns out that the features changed gradually and continuously within the range (it’s called «clinal variability’), and at the limits of the range the characters turn out to be very different. As a rule, evidence of clinal variability is sufficient for synonymizing subspecies, but this general rule practically does not work in parnassiology. As Rose pointed out once in his paper about subspecies inflation in Parnassius, «The description of new subspecies is now becoming increasingly unclear, especially in the genus Parnassius».
The bulk of the described subspecies in the tribus Parnassiini were established between 1900 and 1950. At that time, subspecies of Parnassius s. l. were indeed described from almost every hill and every valley. Over time, the frequency of subspecies descriptions decreased, but since the end of the last century, it has begun to increase again – mainly due to Japanese collectors who began actively collecting in the Sino-Tibetan Plateau. The controversy over the categories of «species» and «subspecies» as terminal positions of zoological systematics has been going on for a long time, but there has been no balance either in favor of the species as a terminal taxon, or in favor of the subspecies as a terminal taxon. Most taxonomic theorists agree that a serious crisis is currently looming in subspecies systematics; unfortunately, it did not touch upon the tribus Parnassiini, and the reason for this is very simple: there are practically no specialist biologists working in parnassiology, this whole «science’ is based on the activity of amateurs. Amateurs are not familiar with the theory of taxonomy, they are not interested in its problems – they simply describe each micropopulation they find on the slopes of another mountain as a special subspecies, continuing to make «scientific’ names. But now a subspecies is described not simply as a set of individuals of unclear genesis, but as a completely understandable product of evolution, and formed as a result of the reconstructed event – the subspecies nowadays is a phylogenetic lineage as it was recently stated by Lukhtanov. On the contrary, subspecies that do not have such evolutionary prerequisites, described from different parts of the same range in the order of discovering populations, and not in the order of describing the evolution of a species as a polytypic entity, have no right to exist anymore. Indeed, if a subspecies does not have a genetic specification, it is not a subspecies.
As for the «old’ subspecies, everything is even simpler. The bulk of such «subspecies’ were described based on an extremely small number of specimens. The size of the type series for such descriptions often does not exceed ten specimens. Additionally, the extremely small size of the series was used for comparison – and you get an explosive mixture of conviction in novelty and an extremely weak possibility to prove it.
Why are these «subspecies» still in the Parnassiini system? For three reasons. The first reason is the indisputable authority of the old authors (even though it would be quite logical to double-check their conclusions based on a comparison of only a few specimens). The second reason is the high popularity of the group among collectors and, as a result, the simple desire of collectors to exhibit something «extraordinary» in the collection. The third reason is the enormous inertia of the collecting masses, who for the most part do not want to accept the fact of scientific progress, but want to remain in their usual and comfortable systematic-taxonomic positions. In general, I would describe the situation with subspecies in this group as archaic progress: on the one hand, descriptions of new subspecies are constantly appearing (progress seems to be happening), and on the other hand, the overwhelming majority of these subspecies are stillborn taxa, initially being synonyms (and, what is most unpleasant, the describers of such subspecies usually know this from the beginning).
Staudinger’s collection is a source of «old’ subspecies descriptions, but the number of used specimens is very small.
Rhyme
I will only briefly touch on the topic of man’s glorification of the beauty of the Parnassians. Man has always admired beauty, and the beauty of the Parnassians is undeniable.
The genus Parnassius has inspired many artists. Here is a small list of works that mention or depict these butterflies:
Literature
Lots and lots of books and novels are devoted to Parnassian butterflies. I will show only a few.
Vladimir Nabokov – «Transparent Things» (1972) [Прозрачные вещи].
In this novel, Nabokov describes the Apollo butterfly, emphasizing the «faded red» spots on its wings.
Vladimir Nabokov – «The Gift» (1938) [Дар].
The novel contains scenes related to Parnassians.
Jillian Meadows – «Give Me Butterflies: A Novel».
A swoony, steamy romance in which two curators at a science museum – a handsome but grumpy astronomer and an anxious but sunshiny entomologist – realize they are the perfect match. The Apollo Butterfly in this romance is an example of a light and white sense of love.
Lata Sharma – «Nature’s Wings: A Journey into the World of Apollo Butterflies».
This book invites young readers on an exciting adventure through the enchanting world of butterflies. With its vibrant illustrations and engaging storytelling, this book is specially created for children aged four and above to spark their curiosity and ignite a love for the natural world.
Painting and Illustrations
Many scientific publications of the late 19th – early 20th centuries contain detailed illustrations of butterflies of Parnassians, made by naturalist artists.
Some specific oil paintings and posters depict Parnassians too, let’s touch them a bit.
The work of Peter Blake (Butterfly man, 2010, UniCredit Art Collection) – the author of the legendary cover of The Beatles – Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, depicts Parnassius apollo (Linnaeus, 1758) among the other butterflies.
Vasily Polenov’s «Butterfly Collection» (1874). This is a still life depicting butterflies laid out in a display case, among which you can see Parnassius apollo (Linnaeus, 1758), one of the most famous butterflies of the Parnassius genus.
Polenov, as a representative of the Russian realistic school, conveyed the details of the insects with great precision, which makes the painting a valuable source for entomologists and nature lovers.
This work reflects the popularity of entomological collections in the 19th century when collecting butterflies was not only a hobby but also a part of scientific research. The painting demonstrates the subtlety and ephemerality of nature, which is characteristic of Polenov’s work.
George Elgar Hicks «Life’s sunshine». He was an English painter during the Victorian era. He is best known for his large genre paintings, which emulate William Powell Frith in style, but was also a society portraitist.
Life’s Sunshine is a series of paintings by George Elgar Hicks which depicts mostly young and beautiful ladies. One such painting is devoted to two girls resting in a garden or a forest and observing the fly of an Apollo Butterfly. Apollo is depicted in all details, with its natural proportions. The ladies look at him with genuine surprise, their gaze conveying admiration for the beauty of the butterfly and the grace of its flight.
Peter Blake. Butterfly man, 2010, UniCredit Art Collection.
Vasily Polenov. Butterfly Collection.
Life’s sunshine. George Elgar Hicks.
Music
No direct musical works dedicated to Parnassians have been found. However, the theme of butterflies inspired composers to create works conveying their lightness and grace:
Robert Schumann – «Papillons» (Op. 2, 1831)
The piano cycle, the title of which is translated as «Butterflies», conveys the grace and ephemerality of these creatures.
Edvard Grieg – «Solveig’s Song» from the suite «Peer Gynt» (Op. 23, 1875)
Although the composition is not dedicated to butterflies, its melody is associated with lightness and airiness, reminiscent of the flight of a butterfly.
Philately, or postage stamps
Parnassians are depicted on postage stamps of various countries, including Hungary (1974), Afghanistan (1971), Kyrgyzstan (2018), and others.
Poetry
Poems are often written about the Apollo butterfly. Here are the lines of some of them:
Ludwig Uhland
An Apollo, den Schmetterling
Göttlicher Alpensohn, sey huldreich uns Epigrammen!
Ueber der nächtlichen Kluft flatterst du, spielend im Glanz.
Few examples of postage stamps with Parnassians
Few examples of postage stamps with Parnassians
Few examples of postage stamps with Parnassians
Few examples of postage stamps with Parnassians
Нина ГрачёваСолнечная бабочка Аполлон…Солнечная бабочка АполлонБрызжет радостно в холодное стекло…Буду думать: сон или не сон?Из-под шали чёрной вынырнет крыло.Ясен свет мерцающих зрачков.Видно, буду сладко помнить и в земле:Шорохи лукавых мотыльков,Пятнышко на золотом своём крыле…
Postal envelope with Parnassius apollo (Linnaeus, 1758) depicted.
[Nina Grachova
Solar Apollo Butterfly
Solar butterfly Apollo
Splashes joyfully into the cold glass…
I will think: is it a dream or not a dream?
A wing will emerge from under a black shawl.
The light of flickering eyes is clear.
It seems that I will remember sweetly in the grave:
The rustling of sly butterflies,
A spot on the golden wing…]
Mary K. O’MelvenyChrysalisThis was going to be a poem
about hope’s power. Of emergence
from our weeks in sheltered spaces,
transformed to newer selves.
Healed, our imaginations ran wild.
Our shells melted, turned rainbow-hued,
translucent scales unfolded, stretched.
Lifted from retreat, how we soared.
But I am writing from my tent
in Idlib, Syria. Shared by
three families, our cocoons are
cobalt blue sheets of thin plastic.
All we see here is mud or dirt.
I stand in daily water lines,
imagine which body part can be
washed once my tin jug is filled.
More queues form when medics arrive.
Like our neighborhoods, barrel bombs
transmuted our hospitals to dust.
Despite our pasts, we seek healing.
Prayers are as fragile here as
butterflies. Once I saw a False
Apollo resting on a rock.
Its wings were black and white, dots
of royal blue, eye spots of russet.
I tried to imagine how it might
mimic its mythic namesake.
How it might soar like a poem.
Modern art
In modern art, images of Parnassians (and especially the Apollo butterfly) are used quite widely. I will give a few examples, without going into the subject in depth, since such a depth would lead us to a huge number of works of art by modern artists, and this is not the purpose of this book.
Murals. A lot of street art contains depictions of different butterflies. The most famous street painter (mural creator) is Youri Cansell known also as Mantra. He is a consummate artist and naturalist. Mantra is especially fascinated by entomology, the world of insects. Mining memories of his childhood garden in France, he now paints exquisite murals, often of moths and butterflies, on urban surfaces where these ephemeral beings are seldom seen in the wild.
Mantra’s mural with Parnassius apollo (Linnaeus, 1758)
Mantra’s mural with Parnassius apollo (Linnaeus, 1758)
Mantra works with entomological collections to create new art.
Coins. Some countries are producing coins as pieces of art, not for wide usage, but for coin collectors. Mostly these pieces of art are precise and beautiful, but sometimes they can be very funny. One of such funny examples I would like to present here – a coin from Cameroun which (according the writing) depicts Parnassius apollo (Linnaeus, 1758), but in fact it is something different, sharing features of Morpho and some Satyridae butterflies.
A coin from Cameroon, with erroneous depiction of «Parnassius apollo’
Chinese coin with a depiction of Parnassius actius (Eversmann, 1843)
Apollo Butterfly or Parnassius Apollo digital artwork by SP JE Art which was uploaded on November 17th, 2020
Charlton’s Apollo, digital vector artwork, which was made basing the image of scienceart user of 123rf internet pages.
Digital artwork.
Modern art is unimaginable without digital content. Various images are created using graphic programs and are undoubtedly works of art. Here I provide examples of two such digital works.
Jewelry.
Modern jewelry uses very precise reproductions of animal details, including butterflies of the subfamily Parnassiinae. A couple of examples of such jewelry are given on the next page.
Apollo Butterfly earrings.
The price of a dream
Human emotions sometimes are very valuable side of the butterfly catchers. Not all of them are greedy and bad, some of them can demonstrate very honorable behavior.
This is a story from Yuri Stshetkin, a well known Lepidoptera expert. It shows some psychiatry diagnoses which can actually come across for butterfly collector.
«We set up camp in the village of Darai-Nazarak, lost among the harsh mountains of the Peter the Great Range. It was 1980, and our team had new faces – two collectors from Moscow.
Kipnis and Samodurov came for a dream. Koramius cardinal (Grumm-Grshimailo, 1887). A magnificent butterfly, a rare find even in these parts. I knew the spot where you could get it, but the road there is not for the weak: one and a half kilometers up the vertical by about ten kilometers over rough terrain.
Samodurov was younger and more resilient, but Kipnis was older, but obsessed. We climbed slowly. Kipnis often stopped, clutched his knees, and breathed noisily. We waited patiently.
We reached the place by two o’clock in the afternoon. In these parts, a butterfly is a real success. If you catch five or six specimens per day, consider yourself lucky.
I caught three. Samodurov caught five. But Kipnis was unlucky.
He crept up to each sitting butterfly with extreme caution, froze, held out the net, some five or ten centimeters remained… and the butterfly soared into the sky, disappearing in the sun’s rays.
Attempt after attempt, failure after failure.
At some point, his nerves gave out.
«Damn you all!» Kipnis screamed. His face turned red; his lips trembled. «Damn fate!»
He was shaking with rage and despair.
«I’ll rip this net! I’ll burn the whole collection! Why do I need all this?!»
He threw the net on the ground and began to tear his clothes.
We froze. There was no point in saying anything at such moments.
Samodurov silently approached, opened the box, took out one of his butterflies – a fresh, perfect Koramius cardinal (Grumm-Grshimailo, 1887) – and handed it to Kipnis.
He looked up, his eyes full of tears.
«Take it,» Samodurov said briefly.
Kipnis’s hands were shaking as he carefully took the butterfly. He looked at it for a long time, as if he couldn’t believe it. His chest was heaving, his breathing was ragged.
«Thank you…» he exhaled.
Something else appeared in his eyes – not just gratitude, but the realization that the dream for which he had climbed the mountains had come true after all. Even if not with his own hands.
Crime…
International Environmental Crimes and Butterflies
The concept of an international crime is defined in Article 19 of the Draft Articles on International Responsibility, developed by the International Law Commission. It is an international legal act that arises from the breach by a State of an international obligation that is so fundamental to ensuring the vital interests of the international community that its breach is considered a crime against the international community as a whole.
According to international environmental law, international environmental crimes may in particular result from a grave breach of an international obligation that is fundamental to the protection of the environment, such as an obligation prohibiting mass pollution of the atmosphere or seas or mass destruction of flora or fauna (ecocide).
Different legal systems criminalize different acts and provide for different penalties for them. Be that as it may, a significant number of acts fall under international conventions, without which it would be almost impossible to administer justice with any result in international affairs. These conventions reflect the shared understanding among states that certain acts should be regulated, prohibited or criminalized.