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Erebia orientalis

Bulgarian Ringlet

Field Notes

Rila Mts, Bulgaria, July 2004

Rila Mts, Bulgaria, July 2004

Female

Rila Mts, Bulgaria, July 2004

Female

Rila Mts, Bulgaria, July 2004

Female

Rila Mts, Bulgaria, July 2004

Female

Rila Mts, Bulgaria, July 2004

This is a delightful species. The females are particularly cute with soft but colourful ground colours and large bright eye spots. It is quite a distinctive Erebia having unusual streaks of orange radiating outwards from the cell on the upper forewing. I note however that this streak is faintly present on the form spodia of the Bright-eyed Ringlet which shares the same habitats in certain places. It also has a rather pointed forewing for the Erebia.

It is confined to the principle high mountains of Bulgaria – Sar Plaz, Rila and Pirin Mts. We only found it on Rila Mts in July 2004, absent from the Pirin Mts from similar habitats. Where we found this species we always found Nicholl’s Ringlet, E. rhodopensis usually in greater numbers. We saw good numbers of this species too, although females were rare. This may have been caused by their very laboured flight. In fact they seemed almost incapable of lying, being barely capable of flapping a short distance in the grass before resting and handing from a grass stem other low plant.

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