Erebia neoridas

Autumn Ringlet (Erebia neoridas)

2023 photographs highlighted in green. Click on any photograph to go to an enlarged picture, or simply scroll down the page.


14222_male?_Var_6Sep08	23788_male_Alpes-Maritimes_9Sep10	42153_male_Var_27Aug16	45052_male_Var_31Aug17

45854_male_Var_29Aug18	3662_male_Alpes-de-Haute-Provence_13Aug06	9620_male_Var_12Sep08	48888_male_Var_6Sep21

50466_male_Var_31Aug22	50461_female_Var_31Aug22	45057_female_Var_31Aug17	23825_female_Alpes-Maritimes_9Sep10

14228_female_Var_6Sep08	19040_female_Lozère_26Aug09	19124_female_Gard_27Aug09	45845_female_Var_29Aug18

42156_male_Var_27Aug16	9651_male_Var_12Sep07	39363_female_Var_2Sep15	14221_female_Var_6Sep08

23814_female_Alpes-Maritimes_9Sep10

I had not seen neoridas before 2006 because my visits to France were in July, and the reason is now clear why: they do not emerge until mid-August. However, when they do come out they are everywhere, and often very common. They do not require the minimum altitude levels of many Erebia (Lafranchis says as low as 500m), and I have found them at 600m and above, up to 1800m. As with most Erebia, the female uppersides have more extensive and wider orange bands and larger ocelli, and the orange patches are quite jagged (more jagged on the unf band), whereas most Erebia have smooth-edged bands (it seems to me), so this may help in identifying it.

The uph red-orange patches are quite characteristic, too, straight-edged externally, with the ocelli often right at the lower edge of the red patches.

It is a beautiful dark chocolate brown when fresh, with a velvety appearance. The underside is well-marked and quite characteristic, the female being appreciably lighter than the male, making confusion between the sexes unlikely from an underside view.

ref	sex	observations	alt. m
14222	M	a male(?), with a strong red upf post-discal band extending well into s1. The three uph ocelli are very large, touching and even cutting the lower edge of the band, and with very bright white centres, much stronger than the illustration in T&L, and suggesting female, but I feel it is a male based on what can be seen of the body shape.	780
23788	M	a typical male.	1400
42153	M	a male with an unusually narrow upf post-discal band.	780
45052	M	a slightly worn male. The fact that there had been no rain for three months may have contributed to the dryness that may have caused a loss of scales.	780
45854	M	a fresh male, not unexpected given the date and the fact that 2018 was generally a "late" year. It is an appealing dark brown, even though this makes getting a clear photograph more difficult.	780
3662	M	*a male with very regular and clear markings. The uph ocelli are large and bright and, slightly unusually for neoridas, centred within the red post-discal patches.*	1000
9620	M	a neatly marked male with a rather warm brown colour.	780
48888	M	a male, illustrating the degree of variation in the markings of this species.	780
50466	M	a fresh male, quite a light brown ground colour.	780
50461	F	a female with two blind ocelli, very similar to 45057.	780
45057	F	a female from the same locality as 45052, unusual in that there are only two ocelli and they are completely blind.	780
23825	F	a female, with an unusually narrow upf red post-discal band (for a female) but large ocelli, and a surprisingly poorly developed uph red band and ocelli.	1200
14228	F	a female, based on the stronger ocelli and slightly lighter brown ground colour, and confirmed by the body shape.	780
19040	F	I have included this rather worn female only because of the upf ocelli in s6, which I don't think I have ever seen on neoridas. Equally strangely, the left s6 ocellus is quite large and only just to the left of centre, whereas the right ocellus is much smaller and quite displaced externally. The same is true for the ocelli in s3. I rarely find that markings are not mirrored, even in aberrations.	610
19124	F	a female, rather worn but posing nicely.	600
45845	F	a female, I am sure, from the body shape and that 45844 is the underside, despite the rather territorial pose that would be suggestive of a male.	780
42156	M	a male underside, perhaps rather lighter than average for a male.	780
9651	M	a male. The female underside is generally much lighter.	780
39363	F	a female, as evidenced by the lighter colouring.	780
14221	F	a female, based on the lighter colouring and the pronounce post-discal band.	780
23814	F	a female, the colour contrast of the post-discal band being less than average for a female, I would say.	1400
45844	F	a female, the underside of 45845. It has nice contrast between the bands, but is generally rather pale.	780