Prunner's Ringlet, erebia temprana

Description:

It is a very variable butterfly. The male has the upper side dark brown with reddish bands in both wings, decorated with black ocela with white pupils. E. triaria is sometimes superficially similar to the Piedmont Ringlet (E. meolans). There are 5 white-pupilled ocelli in the upper forewing in spaces s2-s6 and the smaller ocellus in s6 is generally present and in line with the larger ocelli in s4 and s5. However, meolans sometimes has an ocellus in s6 that is distinctly not aligned with the other two. The wingspan is between 40-50 mm. It flies from april to july, only one generation every year. It feeds on Poa annua, Poa pratensis, Nardus, Stipa pennata, Festuca ovina and Lollium. The caterpilars are greenish coloured with dark a clear lines.

Habitat:

It lives in grassy or rocky hillsides up to 2000 meters high. Spotted high in the mountains (1800 meters) close to Madrid. Sierra de Guadarrama

Notes:

Camera Model: NIKON D300. Exposure Time: 1/400 sec. f/10 ISO Speed Rating: 400. Focal Length: 300.0 mm.