Cleopatra butterfly

Gonepteryx cleopatra Today, 3 October

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec

now hibernating 139 days

hibernating Insect here all year

The whole year

1 September – 19 February

the coastal calendar, unshifted

Sitting the year outGetting readyYoung aboutYoung leaving

Where to look

Buckthorn scrub on the coast; often the first butterfly of the year, in February sun.

Worth knowing

One generation a year but the adult lives ten or eleven months — longer than any other butterfly in Europe. A Cleopatra seen in March and one seen in August are different animals: the March one is nearly a year old.

Look it up

photos, sightings and recordings, off this site

iNaturalist — photos and where people are seeing it Wikipedia — Gonepteryx cleopatra

Regions

where this species is on the list

Dalmatian coastKvarner and IstriaVelebit and the DinaridesSlavonia and the Pannonian plainTukhlia, Ukrainian Carpathians

Phase by phase

dates as they fall in the region chosen above

Phase	When	Length	What it means
hibernating	1 September – 19 February	172 days	True hibernation: body temperature drops and the animal cannot simply wake. The adult overwinters in ivy or evergreen scrub and can be woken by a warm January day.
going about the year	20 February – 31 March	40 days	Feeding, holding territory, doing nothing the calendar singles out.
on eggs	1 April – 19 April	19 days	Clutch laid and being incubated, or buried and left to the sun.
larvae feeding	20 April – 31 May	42 days	Caterpillars, grubs or nymphs feeding and growing.
in the pupa	1 June – 24 June	24 days	Rebuilt inside a chrysalis or cocoon; the animal cannot move or feed.
adults on the wing	25 June – 31 August	68 days	The new generation is out, winged and looking for a mate.

Other insects in this region

Buff-tailed bumblebeeCommon glow-wormEuropean hornetEuropean mantisGreat cicadaGreat green bush-cricketHummingbird hawk-mothRose chaferScarce swallowtailSwallowtailTwo-tailed pashaViolet carpenter beeWestern honey bee

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