PAPILIONIDAE
Parnassius clodius
Clodius Parnassian
Three Parnassians are known from North America, of which two are recorded from Vancouver Island, but I have found only clodius in the small area of southern Vancouver Island covered by this series. The caterpillar feeds on Bleeding Heart Dicentra formosa. Winter is spent as a caterpillar. It has the mothlike habit, unusual for a butterfly, of pupating in the ground in a fairly substantial silk cocoon.
