Ringlet
Aphantopus hyperantus
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Almost black when freshly emerged, with a row of small gold-ringed eyes underneath.
A dark chocolate-brown butterfly, so dark when newly emerged as to look almost black, with a narrow white fringe to the wings. The name comes from the underside, which carries a row of small black eyespots each ringed in creamy yellow with a white centre. Ringlets like damp, sheltered, lightly shaded grassland — woodland rides, hedge banks and damp meadows around Dumfries.
Behaviour
Like the meadow brown, the ringlet flies readily in dull and damp weather, and it prefers shadier, damper ground than most grassland butterflies. Females scatter their eggs in flight over long grass rather than laying them on a specific plant — an unusually casual approach. The caterpillars feed on coarse grasses at night and overwinter part-grown.
When to see it
Quick facts
- Family
- Browns (Nymphalidae, subfamily Satyrinae)
- Wingspan
- 4–5 cm
Photo by Ivar Leidus, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons