The ringlet (''Aphantopus hyperantus'') is a

butterfly Butterflies are winged insects from the lepidopteran superfamily Papilionoidea, characterized by large, often brightly coloured wings that often fold together when at rest, and a conspicuous, fluttering flight. The oldest butterfly fossi ...

in the family

Nymphalidae The Nymphalidae are the largest family of butterflies, with more than 6,000 species distributed throughout most of the world. Belonging to the superfamily Papilionoidea, they are usually medium-sized to large butterflies. Most species ha ...

. It is only one of the numerous "ringlet" butterflies in the

tribe The term tribe is used in many different contexts to refer to a category of human social group. The predominant worldwide use of the term in English is in the discipline of anthropology. The definition is contested, in part due to conflict ...

Satyrini The Satyrini is one of the tribe (biology), tribes of the subfamily Satyrinae. It includes about 2200 species and is therefore the largest tribe in the subfamily which comprises 2500 species. Distribution Satyrini butterflies have a Cosmopolit ...

Range

The ringlet is a widely distributed species found throughout much of the

Palearctic realm The Palearctic or Palaearctic is a biogeographic realm of the Earth, the largest of eight. Confined almost entirely to the Eastern Hemisphere, it stretches across Europe and Asia, north of the foothills of the Himalayas, and North Africa. The ...

. In Europe it is common in most countries but absent from northern Scandinavia, peninsular Italy (found in northern Italy), Portugal, southern and central Spain (found in

Cantabrian Mountains The Cantabrian Mountains or Cantabrian Range () are one of the main systems of mountain ranges in Spain. They stretch for over 300 km (180 miles) across northern Spain, from the western limit of the Pyrenees to the Galician Massif ...

and the eastern

Pyrenees The Pyrenees are a mountain range straddling the border of France and Spain. They extend nearly from their union with the Cantabrian Mountains to Cap de Creus on the Mediterranean coast, reaching a maximum elevation of at the peak of Aneto. ...

), the Mediterranean islands and North Africa. In Greece it is found in northern regions (

Macedonia Macedonia (, , , ), most commonly refers to: * North Macedonia, a country in southeastern Europe, known until 2019 as the Republic of Macedonia * Macedonia (ancient kingdom), a kingdom in Greek antiquity * Macedonia (Greece), a former administr ...

Thessaly Thessaly ( ; ; ancient Aeolic Greek#Thessalian, Thessalian: , ) is a traditional geographic regions of Greece, geographic and modern administrative regions of Greece, administrative region of Greece, comprising most of the ancient Thessaly, a ...

). Beyond Europe it is found across much of temperate Asia including

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

Siberia Siberia ( ; , ) is an extensive geographical region comprising all of North Asia, from the Ural Mountains in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east. It has formed a part of the sovereign territory of Russia and its predecessor states ...

Mongolia Mongolia is a landlocked country in East Asia, bordered by Russia to the north and China to the south and southeast. It covers an area of , with a population of 3.5 million, making it the world's List of countries and dependencies by po ...

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

and

Korea Korea is a peninsular region in East Asia consisting of the Korean Peninsula, Jeju Island, and smaller islands. Since the end of World War II in 1945, it has been politically Division of Korea, divided at or near the 38th parallel north, 3 ...

Description

''Aphantopus hyperantus'' is a medium-sized butterfly with a wingspan of up to 35 to 42 millimeters. The wing upper and lower sides are solid brown with small, yellowish-rimmed eyespots. The newly emerged ringlet has a velvety appearance and is almost black with a white fringe to the wings. The number and size of the eyespots is variable, they may be missing on the upper wing surface. In central Europe and southern England the rare form ''arete'' occurs. The eggs are pale yellow when first laid, but become pale brown. The caterpillars are about 25 millimeters long. They are gray or light reddish brown and have dark, reddish brown and very fine dots. Dorsally there is a dark longitudinal line, which is widened at the segment boundaries. Toward the rear, this line is more intensely colored. The head is darker and has several faint longitudinal stripes. (MHNT) Aphantopus hyperantus - Foret de Bouconne, France - male dorsal.jpg, ♂ (MHNT) Aphantopus hyperantus - Foret de Bouconne, France - male ventral.jpg, ♂ △

Color and wing spot variation

Ringlet butterfly (Aphantopus hyperantus) 1 spot newly emerged.jpg, Newly emerged, with one spot Ringlet butterfly (Aphantopus hyperantus) 1 spot.jpg, Fresh, with one spot Ringlet butterfly (Aphantopus hyperantus) 2 spots worn.jpg, Worn specimen with two spots Ringlet butterfly (Aphantopus hyperantus) 3 spots.jpg, Faded specimen with three spots

Subspecies

*ssp. ''abaensis'' Yoshino, 2003 - northwestern

Sichuan Sichuan is a province in Southwestern China, occupying the Sichuan Basin and Tibetan Plateau—between the Jinsha River to the west, the Daba Mountains to the north, and the Yunnan–Guizhou Plateau to the south. Its capital city is Cheng ...

*ssp. ''alpheois'' Fruhstorfer, 1908 - Ural, western

*ssp. ''arctica'' (Seitz, 1909) - northern Europe *ssp. ''bieti'' (Oberthür, 1884) - Sichuan and northern

Yunnan Yunnan; is an inland Provinces of China, province in Southwestern China. The province spans approximately and has a population of 47.2 million (as of 2020). The capital of the province is Kunming. The province borders the Chinese provinces ...

*ssp. ''hyperantus'' Linnaeus, 1758 - western Europe, the type locality is Sweden *ssp. ''luti'' Evans, 1915 - southeastern

Tibet Tibet (; ''Böd''; ), or Greater Tibet, is a region in the western part of East Asia, covering much of the Tibetan Plateau and spanning about . It is the homeland of the Tibetan people. Also resident on the plateau are other ethnic groups s ...

*ssp. ''ocellata'' (Butler, 1882) (= ''amurensis'' Staudinger, 1892; = ''insularis'' Kurentzov, 1966) -

Amur The Amur River () or Heilong River ( zh, s=黑龙江) is a perennial river in Northeast Asia, forming the natural border between the Russian Far East and Northeast China (historically the Outer Manchuria, Outer and Inner Manchuria). The Amur ...

and

Ussuri The Ussuri ( ; ) or Wusuli ( ) is a river that runs through Khabarovsk and Primorsky Krais, Russia and the southeast region of Northeast China in the province of Heilongjiang. It rises in the Sikhote-Alin mountain range, flowing north and formi ...

*ssp. ''sajana'' (O. Bang-Haas, 1906) -

Sayan Mountains The Sayan Mountains (, ; ) are a mountain range in southern Siberia spanning southeastern Russia (Buryatia, Irkutsk Oblast, Krasnoyarsk Krai, Tuva and Khakassia) and northern Mongolia. Before the rapid expansion of the Tsardom of Russia, the mou ...

*ssp. ''sibiricus'' Obraztsov, 1936 - Altai, southern

and

Transbaikalia Transbaikal, Trans-Baikal, Transbaikalia ( rus, Забайка́лье, r=Zabaykal'ye, p=zəbɐjˈkalʲjɪ), or Dauria (, ''Dauriya'') is a mountainous region to the east of or "beyond" (trans-) Lake Baikal at the south side of the eastern Si ...

Habitat

They live in grassy, moist or dry forest clearings with bushes but not in open places. There is a strong degree of attachment to woodland edges and

blackberry BlackBerry is a discontinued brand of handheld devices and related mobile services, originally developed and maintained by the Canadian company Research In Motion (RIM, later known as BlackBerry Limited) until 2016. The first BlackBerry device ...

bushes. The insect can also be very common where there are creeping thistles (''

Cirsium arvense ''Cirsium arvense'' is a perennial species of flowering plant in the family Asteraceae, native throughout Europe and western Asia, northern Africa and widely introduced elsewhere.Joint Nature Conservation Committee''Cirsium arvense'' The standa ...

'') or swamp thistles (''

Cirsium palustre ''Cirsium palustre'', the marsh thistle or European swamp thistle, is a herbaceous biennial (or often perennial) flowering plant in the family Asteraceae. Description ''Cirsium palustre'' is a tall thistle which reaches up to in height. The ...

''), oregano (''

Origanum vulgare Oregano (, ; ''Origanum vulgare'') is a species of flowering plant in the mint family, Lamiaceae. It was native to the Mediterranean region, but widely naturalised elsewhere in the temperate Northern Hemisphere. Oregano is a woody perennial ...

''), forest scabious ('' Knautia sylvatica''), or hogweed (''

Heracleum sphondylium ''Heracleum sphondylium'', commonly known as hogweed or common hogweed, is a herbaceous perennial plant in the carrot family Apiaceae, which includes fennel, cow parsley, ground elder and Heracleum mantegazzianum, giant hogweed. It is native to m ...

'') which are favorite food plants of the imagos. The males fly in search of newly hatched females in slow, uninterrupted flight and flutter round, about and between grass stems.

Flight period

A single brood butterfly, the imagines fly from mid-June to late August.

Food of the larva

The caterpillars feed on many grasses. Among the food plants are:

Development and biology

The female scatters non-adhesive eggs in a slow low flight over grasslands. The larva is nocturnal. There are four moults. The larva hibernates while in the third

instar An instar (, from the Latin '' īnstar'' 'form, likeness') is a developmental stage of arthropods, such as insects, which occurs between each moult (''ecdysis'') until sexual maturity is reached. Arthropods must shed the exoskeleton in order to ...

, breaking

diapause In animal dormancy, diapause is the delay in development in response to regular and recurring periods of adverse environmental conditions.Tauber, M.J., Tauber, C.A., Masaki, S. (1986) ''Seasonal Adaptations of Insects''. Oxford University Press It ...

to feed on warm winter evenings. Feeding resumes in the spring. The pupa stands generally upright in a flimsy silk cocoon, at the base of a grass tussock. This stage lasts for two weeks. ''A. hyperantus'' is generally considered to have a closed population structure since it occurs in small, well-defined populations.

Etymology

Hyperantus, of Greek mythology, was one of the 50 sons of

Aegyptus In Greek mythology, Aegyptus or Ægyptus (; ) was a legendary king of ancient Egypt. He was a descendant of the princess Io through his father Belus, and of the river-god Nilus as both the father of Achiroe, his mother and as a great, great-g ...

, killed by one of the 50

daughters of Danaus A daughter is a female offspring; a girl or a woman in relation to her parents. Daughterhood is the state, condition or quality of being someone's daughter. The male counterpart is a son. Analogously the name is used in several areas to show ...

References

*Tom Tolman, Richard Lewington ''The Butterflies of Europe and Northwest Africa''. Nabu-Kosmos, Stuttgart 1998, *Heiko Bellmann ''Der neue Kosmos-Schmetterlingsführer, Schmetterlinge, Raupen und Futterpflanzen''. Franckh-Kosmos, Stuttgart 2003ISBN 3-440-09330-1 *Günter Ebert, Erwin Rennwald (Hrsg.) Tagfalter. 2. Spezieller Teil: Satyridae, Libytheidae, Lycaenidae, Hesperiidae. In: ''Die Schmetterlinge Baden-Württembergs''. 1. Auflage. Band 2, Ulmer, Stuttgart (Hohenheim) 1991, .

External links

Eurobutterflies Matt Rowlings
* ttp://www.ukbutterflies.co.uk/species.php?species=hyperantus UK Butterflies {{Taxonbar, from=Q161520 Aphantopus Butterflies of Asia Butterflies of Europe Butterflies described in 1758 Taxobox binomials not recognized by IUCN