Brush-footed butterflies · Sweden

Lapland Ringlet

Erebia embla

A dark brown grass butterfly with four yellow-ringed eyespots on its forewing and 4–5 on its hindwing. It is found locally in pine-covered edge zones extending to larger, open peat bogs in northern Värmland and southern Dalarna, northwards.

Status in this countryLeast concern in SwedenLC (Least concern)

Lapland Ringlet — Photo: (c) Валерия Ковалева, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY 4.0

Flight period

In northern Svealand and southern Norrland, from the middle of June under normal seasons, and further north from late June to the middle of July.

Habitat

Tall-dominated borders extending into larger, open peat bogs, as well as drier, tall-dominated poor meadows.

Identifying features

Wingspan 43–50 millimetres. On top, the wings are dark brown with regularly spaced white markings along the wing edges; the forewing has four black eye spots, two of which, located near the front edge, often merge together. The underside is almost uniformly dark brown.

Similar species

No similar species are described in the sources consulted.

Distribution

Occurs locally in Scandinavia from northern Värmland, southern Dalarna, and northern Gästrikland, to northeastern Finnmark; rare at the southern border.

Biology

The developmental stages are poorly known. The species has a two-year life cycle and is more numerous in even-numbered years.