Iphiclides feisthameli (Duponchel, 1832)

Host plants:
The larvae feed on woody Rosaceae, most often on Prunus (blackthorn, almond, peach etc.).

Habitat:
Iphiclides feisthameli inhabits grove-rich open and half-open countrysides. It misses in closed, dark forests and in the totally cleared modern agriculture steppe. It is especially common in dry and warm, scrub-rich pastures and on dry slopes with feral peach and almond.

Life cycle:
The adults occur between March and October in up to 4 generations. In higher altitudes there may be a single generation in summer only, but that is difficult to judge due to the fast and strong flying butterflies which can migrate from the plain to the mountains (stray around in large areas). The adult behaviour does not differ considerably from that of I. podalirius. The eggs are laid on both the upper and - more often - also the lower side (so in Andalusia in early April 2024) of leaves, but the larvae usually rest on a webbed pad on the upper side (but as L1 still often also the lower side, rearing observation). Pupation takes place on stems and twigs. Pupae can be green or brown. The green ones hatch in the same summer (unlike P. machaon where the pupa colour does not indicate anything).

Remarks:
Iphiclides feisthameli occurs in NW-Africa and Iberia up to the main ridge of the Pyrenees. In the lower east Pyrenees it also reaches into France. But there are obviously no syntopic occurrences.

The taxon differs in some points from I. podalirius (egg morphology, imagines, genetics). Furthermore there are obviously crossbreed barriers. The imagines show on average broader black stripes and a less yellowish ground colour than those of podalirius. Also the eye spots show differences. But it is clear that the two taxa are very closely related.

Literature:
Eitschberger, U. (1993): Zur Artverschiedenheit der europäischen Iphiclides-Arten (Lepidoptera, Papilionidae). — Atalanta 24: 9-13.