Zerynthia rumina and polyxena in the Provence

[luehdorfia]

I’ll be in the Provence from around 23rd of April till 8th of May, staying directly at the Mont Ventoux. I would really love to see Zerynthia rumina and polyxena flying, not for collecting just to see them. I know they are protected in France, and then many other nice butterflies are allowed to collect, which is really great in France.

Does anyone any good spots? I have never been there before and i assume it’s not that easy to find some localised populations. I would be very grateful for any advice and if you don’t want to write down locations here just send me a pm.
I will share my photos of the trip here after I come back! Looking forward to it.

[luehdorfia]

I found Zerynthia rumina just 50 metres behind the house where I am staying in the south slopes of the Mont Ventoux. Still flying here but most of them looked pretty worn, and I couldn’t find any foodplant Aristolochia anywhere, the foodplant is probably still too small right now.

[luehdorfia]

radusho thanks for the advice, I will look closely tomorrow, it’s a very tiny patch in a forest quite separated so the foodplant has to be there. Still it’s about 500sqm to look for some tiny plants, I’ll report tomorrow.

[jmg]

On the north side of Mount Luberon, I know at least two sites where polyxena (in April) and rumina (in May) are abundant. Warning ! these two butterflies are very localized and one can walk long on the paths without seeing a single one. You have to enter the scrubland (garrigue) to find them. The aristoloches are also very present and clearly visible in May.

For example: when you are in the small town of Viens, you take a road to the south that tranforms track on the Plateau Coupon overlooking the valley of Calavon. In the middle of this plateau, still in the scrubland, polyxenes and rumina share the same biotopes in the forest. There are also many other species including Pandoriana pandora. At the risk of repeating myself, I insist on the very localized character of the two Zerynthia: one can be at 50 meters of a very rich biotope without seeing a single Zerynthiini. We must look in the small clearings of the forest.

For the locality, see this page: www.lepido-france.fr/les-hautes-courennes/
Several pictures of the Coupon Plateau.

The two butterflies are also present on the other side of the valley of Fouix, but the sites are more difficult to find; they are below the hamlet of Hautes-Courennes. And again, the location is very small. The aristoloches are again very visible.

Another locality, between Rognes and Puy-Sainte-Réparade, along the canal de Provence (south shore): the aristoloches are well visible and butterflies are present in April and May.

Similarly, in the hills south of this canal. For example, above the hamlet of La Cride, not far from the wine site and dedicated to the contemporary art of Château Lacoste. And, last but not least, at Château Lacoste, besides contemporary art installations, you will find good restaurants and you can buy good wines and one of the best olive oil in Provence !

[luehdorfia]

jmg I unfortunately came back to Germany on the 12th of May already, but my stay at the Mont Ventoux was so beautiful despite the Mistral, that I will definitely go again. And thanks to radusho and another German friend who had sent me photos of the Aristolochiae plants I could find the foodplants of Zerynthia rumina at the Mont Ventoux and even caterpillars! Here please enjoy some of the photos:

Here you can beautifully see the habitat in the south slopes of the Mont Ventoux, height above sea level was about 450m, 9th May 2019. The localities were indeed extremely small, just 20 x 10 metres, just as jmg said, it would have been very easy to just walk by. It was because of the grey weather, no butterflies flying that put my focus on the plants on the ground and once I found the first one it was easy to find them all!

Here you can easily see the Aristolochiae coming out between the rocks, and the first Zerynthia rumina caterpillar!

They were in all stages. From eggs, to all instars of larvae, and even adult butterflies still flying. Really quite amazing!

This one was already bigger.

Altogether I counted about 30-40 caterpillars that were easy to spot on the foodplants.

And another view from the habitat towards the south. Just absolutely beautiful, it was still quite cold though, around 15-20 degrees celcius.

[jmg]

On May, 27, Les Hautes-Courennes, Saint-Martin-de-Castillon (Vaucluse), near the Mount Luberon, about 10 AM:

- aristolochia
- Zerynthia rumina, a sample, rather tired, among the 5 or 6 met in less than one hour on the biotope rich in aristolochiae





Last year, on this date, Z. rumina was gone. This year 2019, due to weather conditions, the butterfly seems later.

[jmg]

On June 5, in the Jabron Valley (Northern side of the Montagne de Lure), 800 m asl, two Z. rumina seen in 5 minutes, one fresh and another not so :