The insect with the slowest flapping of all moves its wings "only" 5 times per second.

The insect with the slowest flapping of all moves its wings "only" 5 times per second.

300 times per minute. Five times a second. That is the slowest flapping ever recorded for an insect and sufficient for it to be able to fly.

This milestone marks the swallowtail butterfly or king (Papilio machaon).

Machaon

It is one of the best-known and most beautiful butterflies in Europe, and it is also very common in the Iberian Peninsula (not so in the Atlantic islands or Ireland, and in England it is hardly widespread).

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It has a wingspan of between 32 and 80 mm and is characterized by its black and cream-yellow wings. The lower wings have red ocelli and have tails.

The "dust" that covers the wings of butterflies and moths is, in fact, a network of tiny scales composed mostly of chitin, the second most abundant natural polymer after cellulose .

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What is the machaon butterfly called in other languages? English: Old World swallowtail; French: Le Grand porte-queue; Italian: macaone; German: Schwalbenschwanz.

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