''Erebia euryale'', the large ringlet, is a species of

butterfly Butterflies are insects in the macrolepidopteran clade Rhopalocera from the order Lepidoptera, which also includes moths. Adult butterflies have large, often brightly coloured wings, and conspicuous, fluttering flight. The group comprise ...

belonging to the family

Nymphalidae The Nymphalidae are the largest family of butterflies, with more than 6,000 species distributed throughout most of the world. Belonging to the superfamily Papilionoidea, they are usually medium-sized to large butterflies. Most species have a red ...

Subspecies

Subspecies include:"''Erebia'' Dalman, 1816"
at Markku Savela's ''Lepidoptera and Some Other Life Forms'' * ''Erebia euryale adyte'' Hübner, 1822 (central and southern Alps, Swiss Jura and parts of Abruzzo) * ''Erebia euryale etobyma'' Fruhstorfer, 1910 * ''Erebia euryale euryale'' (Esper, 1805) (northern Alps) * ''Erebia euryale huebneri'' Oberthür, 1912 * ''Erebia euryale isarica'' Heyne, 1895 (northern Alps, Switzerland, France) * ''Erebia euryale ocellaris'' Staudinger, 1861 (eastern and southern Alps) * ''Erebia euryale syrmia'' Fruhstorfer, 1909 (Balkan Peninsula, Bulgaria, Romania) (MHNT) Erebia euryale adyte - Lac de Tignes Savoie France - male dorsal.jpg, ''Erebia euryale adyte'' ♂ (MHNT) Erebia euryale adyte - Lac de Tignes Savoie France - male ventral.jpg, ''Erebia euryale adyte'' ♂ △ Large ringlet (Erebia euryale) female underside Bulgaria.jpg, Female,

Bulgaria Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedo ...

Large ringlet (Erebia euryale) mating female right Bulgaria.jpg, Mating,

Distribution and habitat

This species is endemic to Europe. It can be found in southern Europe, in the Alps, Cantabrian, Pyrenees, Carpathians, Balkans, in northern Europe from Finland to the Urals and in Altai.Russian Insects
/ref> ''Erebia euryale'' is an alpine species. It lives in spruce forest clearings, glades, slopes, subalpine meadows and damp meadows at an elevation of above sea level.

Description

''Erebia euryale'' has a

wingspan The wingspan (or just span) of a bird or an airplane is the distance from one wingtip to the other wingtip. For example, the Boeing 777–200 has a wingspan of , and a wandering albatross (''Diomedea exulans'') caught in 1965 had a wingspan o ...

of 20–23 mm. These butterflies have a considerable geographic variation. Usually the upperside of the forewings is dark brown with a reddish-orange postmedian band marked with three or four oval

ocelli A simple eye (sometimes called a pigment pit) refers to a form of eye or an optical arrangement composed of a single lens and without an elaborate retina such as occurs in most vertebrates. In this sense "simple eye" is distinct from a multi-l ...

, with white pupils in the females, often blind or reduced to small dots in the males. All wings show chequered fringes. The forewings of the males do not show

androconia The external morphology of Lepidoptera is the physiological structure of the bodies of insects belonging to the order Lepidoptera, also known as butterflies and moths. Lepidoptera are distinguished from other orders by the presence ...

l area. The upperside of each hindwing usually has three eyespots surrounded by orange. The underside hindwings of the females shows a diffuse clear or whitish band, strongly dentate. The caterpillar and the chrysalis are pinkish brown. This species is rather similar to '' Erebia ligea''.

Biology

This species is

univoltine Voltinism is a term used in biology to indicate the number of broods or generations of an organism in a year. The term is most often applied to insects, and is particularly in use in sericulture, where silkworm varieties vary in their voltinism. ...

. It overwinters a first year as an egg, a second year as a caterpillar. The eggs, pearly grey, hatch in the spring. Adults fly from June to September. They feed at mountain flowers, specially at yellow daisies. Caterpillars feed on various grasses (''

Anthoxanthum odoratum ''Anthoxanthum odoratum'', known as sweet vernal grass, is a short-lived perennial grass that is native to acidic grassland in Eurasia and northern Africa. It is grown as a lawn grass and a house plant, due to its sweet scent, and can also be ...

'', ''

Brachypodium sylvaticum ''Brachypodium sylvaticum'', commonly known as false-brome, slender false brome or wood false brome, is a perennial grass native to Europe, Asia and Africa. It has a broad native range stretching from North Africa to Eurasia. The bunchgrass is ...

'', ''

Deschampsia cespitosa ''Deschampsia cespitosa'', commonly known as tufted hairgrass or tussock grass, is a perennial tufted plant in the grass family Poaceae. Distribution of this species is widespread including the eastern and western coasts of North America, parts o ...

'', ''

Festuca ovina ''Festuca ovina'', sheep's fescue or sheep fescue, is a species of grass. It is sometimes confused with hard fescue (''Festuca trachyphylla''). General description It is a perennial plant sometimes found in acidic ground, and in mountain pastur ...

'', ''

Festuca rubra ''Festuca rubra'' is a species of grass known by the common name red fescue or creeping red fescue. It is widespread across much of the Northern Hemisphere and can tolerate many habitats and climates. It is best adapted to well-drained soils in c ...

'', '' Festuca alpina'', '' Poa nemoralis'', '' Carex flacca'', ''

Digitaria ''Digitaria'' is a genus of plants in the grass family native to tropical and warm temperate regions but can occur in tropical, subtropical, and cooler temperate regions as well. Common names include crabgrass, finger-grass, and fonio. They are ...

'', '' Milium'', ''

Carex ''Carex'' is a vast genus of more than 2,000 species of grass-like plants in the family Cyperaceae, commonly known as sedges (or seg, in older books). Other members of the family Cyperaceae are also called sedges, however those of genus ''Carex'' ...

'' and ''

Sesleria ''Sesleria'' is a genus of perennial plants in the grass family. The are native to Eurasia and North Africa. They are found in Albania, Austria, Baleares, Baltic States, Belarus, Belgium, Bulgaria, Corsica, Czechoslovakia, East Aegean Islands, Fi ...

'' species).Pyrgus.de
/ref>

Bibliography

*A. G. Tatarinov and M. M. Dolgin: To the Knowledge of the Intraspecific Variation of the Satyrid Erebia euryale Esp. (Lepidoptera, Satyridae) in Northeastern European Russia. *Bolotov I.N. 2012. The Fauna and Ecology of Butterflies (Lepidoptera, Rhopalocera) of the Kanin Peninsula and Kolguev Island. - ''Entomological Review'' 92(3): 296-304. *''Guide des papillons d'Europe et d'Afrique du Nord'' de Tom Tolman, Richard Lewington, éditions Delachaux et Niestlé, 1998 - () *M.Chinery & P.Leraut ''Photoguide des papillons d'Europe'' Delachaux et Niestlé () *Thomas Schmitt & Karola Haubrich: The genetic structure of the mountain forest butterfly Erebia euryale unravels the late Pleistocene and postglacial history of the mountain coniferous forest biome in Europe. ''Molecular Ecology'', 17: 2194–2207, 2008 doi:10.1111/j.1365-294X.2007.03687.x

External links

Euro Butterflies
* Paolo Mazzei, Daniel Morel, Raniero Panfil

* ttp://www.butterfliesofbulgaria.com/ereeur.html Butterflies of Bulgaria

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q311660 Erebia Butterflies of Europe Butterflies described in 1805