Apollo (Parnassius apollo)

This butterfly, with a wingspan of 35 to 40 millimetres, is now on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. The species is protected by numerous regulations at national or international level, notably by the Berne Convention. Ratified in 1982, this convention aims to conserve wild flora and fauna and their natural environment in Europe.
These butterflies, kept in the Museum store-rooms, were acquired between 1870 and 1950. They were collected mainly in the Alps and other mountains, in France and elsewhere in Europe. Some come from the Sewen valley in the Vosges, their only natural habitat in this mountain range, and an area where intensive collection has certainly contributed to their local disappearance.