Tri-Mountain National Scenic Area Headquarters

• Photographer: Yi-Kang Zou
• Activity area: Lishan

Summer is coming, which means the time of butterfly watching is coming. This time, we will take you to enjoy the beautiful butterfly, Atrophaneura horishana. It always wears a black dress suit, accompanied with a bright red lower hem. When the first light of dawn appears, it flutters in flowering shrubs, and people are intoxicated to see its dance.

Atrophaneura horishana, mainly distributed in high mountain areas at an altitude of 1,000-2,500 meters above sea level. It is a precious and protected butterfly endemic to Taiwan, one of the large papilionidae papilionids. Its wingspan is about 9-12 cm long. Both males and females have no tails. Male wings are black, and have gray-white body hairs. Female wings are lighter in color.  The outer edge of the ventral hind wing is peach pink, which is the easily identifiable feature.

In July and August, when the mountain flowers are in full bloom, it is easy to see Atrophaneura horishana flying in the flowering shrubs. The black and red butterflies against  the white flowers, which is a great sight during mountain activities or hikes.