Parnassius apollo vinningensis: a victim of climate change?

Abstract

This short communication is intended to draw attention to the Moselle Apollo (Parnassius apollo vinningensis Stichel, 1899) which is on the verge of extinction. The formerly largest Apollo population outside the Alps in Germany in the lower Moselle Valley has declined drastically by up to 90% with a sudden onset after 2011. Three main causes for this decline can be hypothesised: climate change, deterioration in habitat quality and the impact of helicopter spraying with fungicides in viticulture. We analysed the trend of all four recent extra-alpine P. apollo populations in Germany. While two of the four sites show a stable trend (Kleinziegenfelder Valley in the Northern Franconian Jura and Blaubeuren in the Swabian Jura), the reference population in the Altmühl Valley (Southern Franconian Jura) dropped to a lower but stable level after 2015. However, the development at the Moselle is extraordinarily negative. Although it seems plausible that climate-related events play a role, our study does not provide evidence for climate change as the main cause of the sudden and sustained loss of P. apollo vinningensis. Many habitats in the Moselle Valley were already lost far before 2011 due to land consolidation and abandonment of vineyards during the late 20th century. Spraying of modern fungicides by helicopter in viticulture in very close proximity to the butterfly´s habitats should be considered as a driver of its demise. Implications for insect conservation: The impact of pesticides, especially modern fungicides, on non-target organisms requires more attention.

Full text

ORIGINAL PAPER
Journal of Insect Conservation (2025) 29:24
https://doi.org/10.1007/s10841-025-00657-9
trend were recently summarised (Müller and Griebeler
2021; Müller and Hilgers 2022. Subsequent volunteer mon-
itoring has shown that there has been no positive develop-
ment in the recent years either. Three main causes for this
decline can be hypothesised: climate change, loss of habitat
quality and the impact of helicopter spraying with modern
fungicides in viticulture.
There is no doubt that climate change can have a nega-
tive eect on buttery populations (Heikkinen et al. 2010;
Devictor et al. 2012; Filazzola et al. 2020). This may in par-
ticular apply to populations that are located in the lowlands
and have no opportunity to escape to higher altitudes when
temperature rises. This has been discussed as a cause for the
decline of the P. apollo population in the Massif Central in
France (Boitier et al. 2007). The extra-alpine populations of
P. apollo in Germany face a similar geographical situation.
Currently, there are four known extra-alpine populations of
the Apollo left in Germany: the subspecies P. apollo vinnin-
gensis from the lower Moselle Valley and the populations
in the Kleinziegenfelder Valley (Northern Franconian Jura),
Introduction
Since 2012, a rapid and sustained decline in the popula-
tion of the Moselle Apollo (Parnassius apollo vinningen-
sis Stichel, 1899) has been observed. This development
requires attention because P. apollo is a protected Natura
2000 species according to EC Council Directive 92/43/EEC
of 21 May 1992 on the conservation of natural habitats and
of wild fauna and ora. The data on the negative population
Tim Laußmann
tim.laussmann@t-online.de
1 Arbeitsgemeinschaft Rheinisch-Westfälischer
Lepidopterologen e.V., Löbbecke-Museum und Aquazoo,
Düsseldorf, Germany
2 Land Management for Sustainable Stone Mining
(Altmühljura, Bayerischer Naturschutzfonds) and Species
Protection Program (Kleinziegenfelder Valley, Büro Für
Ökologische Forschung und Planung, Geyer & Dolek),
Bamberg, Germany
3 Bamann Faunistik, Schulstraße 38, Nehren 72147, Germany
Abstract
This short communication is intended to draw attention to the Moselle Apollo (Parnassius apollo vinningensis Stichel,
1899) which is on the verge of extinction. The formerly largest Apollo population outside the Alps in Germany in the
lower Moselle Valley has declined drastically by up to 90% with a sudden onset after 2011. Three main causes for this
decline can be hypothesised: climate change, deterioration in habitat quality and the impact of helicopter spraying with
fungicides in viticulture. We analysed the trend of all four recent extra-alpine P. apollo populations in Germany. While
two of the four sites show a stable trend (Kleinziegenfelder Valley in the Northern Franconian Jura and Blaubeuren in the
Swabian Jura), the reference population in the Altmühl Valley (Southern Franconian Jura) dropped to a lower but stable
level after 2015. However, the development at the Moselle is extraordinarily negative. Although it seems plausible that
climate-related events play a role, our study does not provide evidence for climate change as the main cause of the sud-
den and sustained loss of P. apollo vinningensis. Many habitats in the Moselle Valley were already lost far before 2011
due to land consolidation and abandonment of vineyards during the late 20th century. Spraying of modern fungicides by
helicopter in viticulture in very close proximity to the buttery´s habitats should be considered as a driver of its demise.
Implications for insect conservation: The impact of pesticides, especially modern fungicides, on non-target organisms
requires more attention.
Keywords: Lepidoptera, apollo, protection, climate change, pesticides, viticulture
Received: 10 September 2024 / Accepted: 14 February 2025
© The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2025
Parnassius apollo vinningensis: a victim of climate change?
TimLaußmann1· AdamGeyer2· ThomasBamann3· DanielMüller1
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