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Butterflies of Britain & Europe
 
Mountain Ringlet
Erebia epiphron KNOCHE, 1783
Family - NYMPHALIDAE
subfamily - SATYRINAE
Tribe - SATYRINI
 
 introduction | habitats | lifecycle | adult behaviour
 
Erebia epiphron, Ben Lawers, Tayside, Scotland
 
Introduction
 
The Mountain Ringlet is widely distributed across Europe, but limited to mountainous regions, occurring at altitudes above 900m in the Vosges and Massif Central, and above 1200m in the Alps, Pyrenees, Picos de Europa, Tatra Mountains, Carpathians and other ranges.
 
In Europe there are no less than 46 members of the genus Erebia, and among these are several which could be confused with epiphron, and which share the same habitats. The use of a good field guide is therefore essential for identification. There are no similar species in Britain.
 
Habitats
 
In Britain the species occurs in small isolated colonies, typically at altitudes between 450 - 800m, although in parts of it's range it can be found as low as 100m, and it occurs as high as 1000m. In Scotland the butterfly is found in the Grampians from Ben Nevis in the west to Glen Clova in the east. The most well known and accessible colonies are at Ben Lawers and in the mountains above Tyndrum. In England the species occurs in the Lake District at Langdale Pikes and elsewhere, but it is absent from the Pennines.
 

The range of the Mountain Ringlet in Britain is contracting in response to global warming. Populations in Cumbria and southern Scotland are expected to be lost within a few years as these sites become too warm for them. The more northern populations are expected to survive longer by moving to higher elevations where temperatures are cooler, but are likely to shrink and ultimately be lost as the butterflies literally run out of space to breed.
 
The butterfly breeds in boggy sheltered depressions, or in the vicinity of small streams, where the larval foodplant, mat grass, thickly carpets the ground.
 
Lifecycle
 
The adults emerge in late June and throughout July, and lay their eggs singly on the stems of mat grass Nardus stricta.
 
The caterpillar feeds solely on mat grass, and enters hibernation in September, when in it's 2nd instar. It spends the winter deep at the base of the grasses, and may be buried under snow for several months. In the spring, after the snows melt, it awakens and resumes feeding, becoming fully grown by early May. Like most Satyrine larvae it feeds nocturnally, and feeds high up on the grass blades, leaving characteristic nibbled notches which give away it's presence.
 
The chrysalis is pale green, with brown striations on the wing cases. It is formed within a very flimsy cocoon - little more than a few strands of silk - at the base of grass tussocks.
 
Adult behaviour

 

During cool or cloudy weather the butterflies hide amongst grass tussocks, but the appearance of sunshine, even for a brief period, quickly arouses them from their state of torpor, causing the entire colony to fly spontaneously. They have a very weak fluttering flight, patrolling back and forth just above the ground, and rarely fly for longer than a minute or two before settling. On sunny afternoons they can sometimes be seen basking amongst the grasses.

 

I have not observed this species nectaring at flowers, either in Britain or in continental Europe, even though plants including Alchemilla, Saxifraga and Cerastium may be flowering in it's habitat. The butterflies are very short-lived, and it seems likely that they rely for sustenance largely on dissolved minerals which they imbibe from damp soil - this is certainly the case with many of the related Erebia species in the Alps and Pyrenees.

 
                                                       
Almost every British and European species of butterfly is declining rapidly in numbers, due in most cases to loss or degradation of habitats.
 
You can help to reverse the decline by supporting conservation organisations which purchase and manage habitats as nature reserves, and which lobby government at local, national and international levels, often very successfully, to bring about changes in farming, forestry and urban development policies.
 
Please contact the conservation organisations for advice on how you can help protect British and European butterflies and their habitats. You may be able to offer practical help e.g. by monitoring butterfly populations or helping to manage nature reserves. Donations to these organisations enable them to employ ecologists and biologists. Even if you are unable to provide such help, merely having your name on the membership list can be a powerful tool for conservation organisations wishing to demonstrate the levels of support they have for their policies.

 

 
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