Last year, our Czech partner ČSOP Hradec Králové managed to light up (not only) over a hectare of densely overgrown rocky terrain for Parnassius apollo, which was covered with impenetrable trees and thickets up to 15 metres high. But our efforts did not end there! Thanks to long-term support from the Škoda Auto Foundation and a partnership with the KRNAP administration, this winter we have managed to open an area that is now two to three times larger than some of the sites where Apollo still survives in Slovakia or Poland.
The work is really extreme and dangerous, and in some places you literally have to do magic on a rope. Through the Krakonoš Gardens project, we have been able to purchase special equipment that allows us to safely reach even the most inaccessible places.
And that’s not all. So far we’ve only focused on one main location, but in the coming period we’ll start preparing a second home for the Butterfly King, which is nearby. We have also walked the surrounding area in detail, mapping the occurrence of both feeding and nectar plants, as well as the surrounding meadows and potential corridors that can serve as a network of stepping stones for the Apollo. These are the kind of microhabitats that help the butterfly king to cross the road when travelling to a new home or mate. It’s a bit like imagining the stones you use to hop from one side of a river to the other.
We’re looking forward to getting the place all smelling and buzzing. Last year, the restored rocky areas have already attracted various species of flowering plants and insects, which had not had enough space and light here before, including, for example, Hornet moth tied to the Spurges or Zygaena ephialtes, which was known on the Czech and Polish side of the Krkonoše Mountains from only one location, although it used to be common here in the past. And thanks to the new finds of rare butterflies last year, it is now indisputable that the activities aimed at the return of Parnassius apollo are helping several of the rarest butterfly species in the Krkonoše Mountains, such as the least and forest Small blue or the Silver-spotted skipper, to survive.
Apollo, as this massive mountain butterfly is also called after the god Apollo, is facing great difficulties today. Its numbers are declining rapidly across central Europe due to deteriorating conditions in its natural habitat, which are affected by both human activity and climate change. Even in the aforementioned sites in Poland and Slovakia, it is no longer thriving, mainly due to the abandonment of traditional farming practices, where excess and sprawling plants were regulated primarily by grazing animals. Last year, Parnassius apollo numbers declined by somewhere up to 90%. This project could thus play a key role in conserving the Central European gene pool of this iconic species and maintaining the population of this butterfly in our region.
The caterpillars of the next generation of Apollo hatched from eggs in the rescue kennel a few weeks ago, and now there are hundreds of them. The actual hatching of the butterflies could take place in June, after which we plan the first experimental release of males at the Krkonoše sites where the field work mentioned last year took place. It does not make much sense to reshape the habitat according to the so-called “human view”, even if we are convinced that our efforts are correct. By observing certain behavioural traits of butterflies, which they can demonstrate directly in the field, we can learn from unnecessary mistakes and guide our efforts in the right direction.
