September sighting in the Dolomites for ID confirmation

[selbypaul]

Hi there everyone
So this morning, 11th September, I spent at Sassolungo, on the Sella Pass, in the Dolomites. It is about 2000 to 2300 metres above sea level.

I'd visited before in July 2016, but wasn't expecting any butterflies in mid September, just splendid views. However, I did see quite a good number of butterflies, as the weather was warm (around 18 degrees) and sunny.

Some of the butterflies I'm pretty confident about identifying, others not. So I'll start with the one I'm most confident with, what I believe to be a Shepherd's Fritillary (boloria pales).

Probable Shepherd's Fritillary (topside)

Probable Shepherd's Fritillary (underside)

Now we move on to a more difficult one. I'm thinking this could be a Water Ringlet (erebia pronoe) or Sooty Ringlet (erebia pluto) form alecto? What do people think? My hunch is pluto

Water Ringlet or Sooty Ringlet ???

Then we have a different erebia, one which I can't tell whether it is De Lesse's Brassy Ringlet (erebia nivalis), Common Brassy Ringlet (erebia cassioides), or Stygian Ringlet (erebia styx). I'm ruling out nivalis as it isn't meant to be in the area. The size of it seemed bigger than cassioides, which I've seen before. So my hunch is styx. Any thoughts?

Stygian Ringlet or Common Brassy Ringlet ???

Finally, I saw three individuals of what I think (though am not sure) are of the same species. I have a topside and underside of individual one, but only topsides of individuals two and three. I have a hunch that they are all Sooty Ringlet (erebia pluto) form alecto. But I haven't ruled out either Yellow Spotted Ringlet (erebia manto) form pyrrhula, or Large Ringlet (erebia euryale) form ocellaris. Again, I'd appreciate any thoughts.

Probable Sooty Ringlet individual 1 (underside)

Probable Sooty Ringlet individual 1 (topside)

Probable Sooty Ringlet individual 2

Probable Sooty Ringlet individual 3

[selbypaul]

Today I spent a second day up in the mountains in the Rosengarten valley, above Vigo di Fassa. It's about 2000 metres above sea level.

There were less butterflies, but I did get some decent photos. I suspect some may be of Common Brassy Ringlet (erebia casioides), but I also think at least one may be of a Water Ringlet (erebia pronoe). Is anyone able to confirm or otherwise my diagnosis?

[David M]

I was hoping that someone else would step in here, Paul, because a lot of the species you quote aren't terribly familiar to me.

That said, the Fritillary looks (to me) more like Mountain than Shepherd's, given the 'smudgy' appearance.

[selbypaul]

I was hoping that someone else would step in here, Paul, because a lot of the species you quote aren't terribly familiar to me.

That said, the Fritillary looks (to me) more like Mountain than Shepherd's, given the 'smudgy' appearance.

Thanks David
That's interesting what you say about the Fritillary, as Mountain was my first impression when I first saw it on the topside. But when I got home and looked at the underside photo, I leaned more to Shepherds. All views and opinions very welcome!

[Paul Wetton]

Hi Paul

Is the fritillary a female in which case I would go for Shepherds as Mountain females are normally oddly coloured. If its a male I would still go for Shepherds as the black lines going at right angles to the veins on the upper forewing are quite thick. These are normally thinner in Mountain Fritillary. Guy or Roger may give you a much better answer.
The Erebia are difficult as they're pretty faded. Your ID on the last three, first one Common Brassy Ringlet then female Water Ringlet for the last two photos looks good to me. The other Erebia are probably species I've never seen and so will defer to the experts on these.
Good luck

[Padfield]

I go very strongly for napaea (mountain) for the fritillary. This is mainly because of the underside, which is classic napaea female. The upperside markings and wingshape also strongly suggest napaea. I take Paul's point about the lack of any obvious violet or dusky suffusion, but this is only really definitive when present, not when absent.

I'd like to know more about the context (aspect, terrain &c.) of the Erebia butterflies. In Switzerland, pluto is early (I've never seen one in September) and restricted to high, shaly slopes. That said, yours are very tatty and the underside is quite good for pluto. I would have suggested manto f. pyrrhula were it not for the underside ('probable sooty 1'), which really doesn't look like manto.

Your very first Erebia is a strange-looking butterfly. I'll pass on that for the moment - but context would be good to help decide if pluto is a possibility.

Did you consider meolans for the second one, that you call possible Stygian? Cassioides is not excluded, but the ocelli are separated and usually they touch in cassioides. In my experience you were too low for nivalis even if it did fly in the region.

I can believe pronoe (water ringlet) for the last three but can't really confirm this.

I wish I were there!

Guy

[selbypaul]

Okay, with huge thanks to Paul, Guy and David.

I've settled for Mountain Fritillary, which was my original instinct when I first saw it.

I'm glad that Paul and Guy agree about my suspicion of Water Ringlet for at least two of the three photos in my second post. Having spent a couple of hours looking through the photos and my ID books when I first posted, I was getting "erebia blindness." With the benefit of a week away from the books and photos, I can more clearly see that now.

For the second erebia in my first post, Guy wondered if I'd considered erebia meolans (Piedmont Ringlet). I hadn't at the time, because of the lack of a third ocelli on the top side of the forewing. I've looked again online and in all the ID books, and I'm pretty confident it isn't. I think I'm now settled on Common Brassy Ringlet (erebia cassioides) for that one.

Guy - You ask about the aspect and terrain from my first set of photos. It was south facing grassland, no trees, very few exposed rocks. About a kilometre away, there are scree slopes with no grass or trees at all, where in July 2016 I did definitely see Sooty Ringlet. I suppose the question is whether it drifts 1km to grassy slopes from its preferred habitat?

It would be good to return to my first erebia photo. I agree, this was the one that flummoxed me most too, as there is nothing like it I could see in the books