Captive breeding of rare butterfly succeeds in southwest China

KUNMING, July 17 (Xinhua) -- A Chinese three-tailed swallowtail butterfly, previously captured in southwest China's Yunnan Province, has laid 36 eggs with 25 caterpillars hatched under captive breeding, local authorities said Saturday.

In May 2020, the rare butterfly was spotted in the famed Jade Dragon Snow Mountain and brought under captive breeding.

Nine out of the 25 caterpillars it has given birth to have made cocoons and become pupae. Three others have metamorphosed into butterflies, said the administration and protection bureau under the provincial nature reserve of the mountain.

Endemic to China, the rare wildlife species, also known as Bhutanitis thaidina, is under second-class national protection. It is listed "near threatened" by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species in 2019.