Erebiola

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Erebiola
Erebiola butleri 112767286.jpg
Upperwings
Erebiola butleri 112767290.jpg
Underwings
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Lepidoptera
Family: Nymphalidae
Subfamily: Satyrinae
Tribe: Satyrini
Subtribe: Erebiina
Genus: Erebiola
Fereday, 1879
Species:
E. butleri
Binomial name
Erebiola butleri
Fereday, 1879 [1]

Erebiola butleri, or Butler's ringlet, is an elusive New Zealand endemic butterfly, discovered in 1879 by John Enys at the alpine pass at the head of the Rakaia River. [2] [3] It is the only member of the genus Erebiola.

Contents

Erebiola is derived from Erebus, the ancient Greek world of darkness between Earth and Hades, while the specific name, butleri, was after Arthur Gardiner Butler of the British Museum who played a major role in early descriptions of New Zealand butterflies.

Its Māori name is pepe pouri, which means dark moth, and shares the name with the black mountain ringlet and the forest ringlet butterfly. [4]

Description

Erebiola butleri cropped Fereday.png

Butler's ringlet has a wingspan of 35–43 mm, with a 40 mm average for males and a 37 mm average for females.

Both males and females are smoky brown, though males tend towards the richer browns while the females tend towards the paler browns. The underside of the hindwing has wedge-shaped silvery-white marks.

Both the underside and the topside of the wings have eyespots at the distal-most ends, surrounded by reddish-brown shading. There is variation between individuals in the number of eyespots, the extent of the reddish-brown colouring around the eyespots, and the silvery-white markings on the undersides of the hindwings.

The egg is ivory with vertical ribbing. The larvae are similar coloured from head to tail, being yellow brown with dark and light lateral striping. A fully grown larva is roughly 20 mm long. The pupa is grey and cream with fine black spotting along the abdomen, changing to a brown on the rest of the body. The style of pupation is unknown.

Life stages

The egg is laid singularly on a shrub and hatches after 14 days. The larvae grows from 3 mm to 20 mm over an unknown length of time, before pupating. Pupation lasts about 21 days. It is unknown how long adult E. butleri live for.

Distribution

Butler's ringlet is confined to the subalpine zone in the South Island. It has been identified at only a few sites along the main divide of the Southern Alps.

It favours subalpine terraces at altitudes of 900 to 1300 m in areas of snow-tussock with Hebe and Dracophyllum shrubs. Its preferred locations are often damp, almost boggy, or next to mountain lakes. It is very difficult to find even in areas where it has previously been seen, and so little is known about its actual range.

Museum specimen records identified it as active from 27 December to 11 March. It is known to be able to remain aloft for long periods of time and to cover great distances. [5]

Similar species

Butler's ringlet appears very similar to some species of the genus Erebia , and was included in that genus until 1967, when Erebia butleri was reclassified as Erebiola butleri due to structural differences found between butleri and other members of the genus Erebia. [6]

Butler's ringlet is visually similar to the black mountain ringlet, Percnodaimon pluto . The two species may be differentiated by where the individual in question is sighted. Butler's ringlet prefers to fly over vegetation, settling among snow-tussock, subalpine shrubs and herbaceous flowers, whereas the black mountain ringlet tends to congregate over rock and scree.

See also

Related Research Articles

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Percnodaimon merula, the black mountain ringlet, is a satyrid butterfly in the family Nymphalidae. It is currently the only recognised species in the monotypic genus Percnodaimon, endemic to New Zealand, although there may be other undescribed species in the genus. The black mountain ringlet is notable for living exclusively in rocky areas of New Zealand's Southern Alps, usually above 1200 m. Its eggs are laid on rocks, its larvae feed on mountain Poa species, and it pupates under a stone. It has distinctive dark velvety wings and a zig-zag flight pattern over the scree slopes on which it lives.

<i>Erebia</i> Genus of insects (brush-footed butterflies)

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<i>Erebia ligea</i> Species of butterfly

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<i>Erebia medusa</i> Species of butterfly

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<i>Erebia tyndarus</i> Species of butterfly

Erebia tyndarus, the Swiss brassy ringlet, is a European brush-footed butterfly species of the subfamily Satyrinae.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Arctic ringlet</span> Species of butterfly

The Arctic ringlet or Disa alpine is a member of the subfamily Satyrinae of family Nymphalidae. It is associated with wet muskeg and bogs in subarctic and Arctic climates, and is often found near the tree-line. The larva overwinters twice before undergoing metamorphosis into an adult. It is found in Arctic Europe, Arctic European Russia, Sajan, Irkutsk, Yakutsk, Yablonoi and Arctic North America.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Yellow-spotted ringlet</span> Species of butterfly

The yellow-spotted ringlet is a member of the subfamily Satyrinae of the family Nymphalidae. It is associated with (sub)alpine meadows at 900–2,500 m above sea level. It is found in the Alps, the Pyrenees, the Cantabrian Mountains, the Massif Central, the Vosges Mountains, the Carpathian Mountains and the mountains of Herzegovina.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Marbled ringlet</span> Species of butterfly

The marbled ringlet is a member of the subfamily Satyrinae of the family Nymphalidae.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mnestra's ringlet</span> Species of butterfly

Mnestra's ringlet is a member of the subfamily Satyrinae of the family Nymphalidae. It is a mountain butterfly found in the Alps of Austria, France, Italy and Switzerland. The Mnestra's ringlet is named for Mnestra, a daughter of Erysichthon, king of Thessaly in Greek mythology.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Brassy ringlet</span> Species of butterfly

The brassy ringlets are a species group of ringlet butterflies in the genus Erebia. Though closely related, their monophyly is not completely resolved. Still, the brassy ringlets are taxa similar to E. tyndarus – the Swiss brassy ringlet –, and in many cases certainly close relatives. A notable trait of their genus is an ability to adapt well to cold and somewhat arid habitat, like taiga or regions with alpine climate. Optimal habitat in Eurasia, where most of the brassy ringlets are found, therefore occurs in two distinct belts – in the very north of the continent and in the Alpide belt – in interglacials, and in glacials in one periglacialic belt at lower altitude, in places interrupted by dry wasteland and deserts.

<i>Erebia cassioides</i> Species of butterfly

Erebia cassioides, the common brassy ringlet, is a member of the subfamily Satyrinae of family Nymphalidae.

<i>Erebia melampus</i> Species of butterfly

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<i>Hypocysta irius</i> Species of butterfly

Hypocysta irius, the northern ringlet or orange-streaked ringlet, is a species of butterfly of the family Nymphalidae. It is found in Australia, including Queensland and New South Wales.

<i>Hypocysta angustata</i> Species of butterfly

Hypocysta angustata, the black and white ringlet or pied ringlet, is a species of butterfly of the family Nymphalidae. It is found on the Cape York Peninsula in Australia and in the rainforests of New Guinea.

<i>Hypocysta adiante</i> Species of butterfly

Hypocysta adiante, the orange ringlet, is a species of butterfly of the family Nymphalidae. It is found in Australia, including Queensland, New South Wales, the Northern Territory and the north of Western Australia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stygian ringlet</span> Species of butterfly

The Stygian ringlet is a butterfly belonging to the subfamily Satyrinae, the "browns", within the family Nymphalidae. It is found locally in the Alps on dry limestone slopes. It is very similar to the Styrian ringlet and has sometimes been included in that species.

Erebia polaris, the Arctic woodland ringlet, is a butterfly of the family Nymphalidae. It is found in Lapland and boreal Asia. The habitat consists of damp grasslands, but this butterfly also occurs on dry grasslands and in waste places, often where shelter is provided by birches or juniper bushes.

<i>Erebia rossii</i> Species of butterfly

Erebia rossii, the Arctic alpine or Ross's alpine, is a member of the subfamily Satyrinae of the family Nymphalidae. It is found in Arctic North America and northern Eurasia.

References

  1. "Erebiola Fereday, 1879" at Markku Savela's Lepidoptera and Some Other Life Forms
  2. Fereday, Richard William (1880). "Description of a new genus and species of buttery of the sub-family Satyrinae". The Entomologist's Monthly Magazine. 16: 128–130 via Biodiversity Heritage Library.
  3. "The Rare Butterfly". The Press . Vol. LIX, no. 17713. Fairfax Media. 15 March 1923.
  4. "Other Butterflies". Monarch Butterfly New Zealand Trust. Retrieved 11 March 2015.
  5. Gibbs, G.W. (1980). New Zealand Butterflies: Identification and Natural History.
  6. Wise, K. A. J. (1967). "Taxonomy of two New Zealand butterfly species (Nymphalidae: Satyrinae)". Transactions of the Royal Society of New Zealand. Zoology. 9: 39–44.