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Coenonympha tullia yukonensis Hübner, [1819]
Northern Ringlet; Ringlets
Family: Nymphalidae (Brushfoots)
Species account authors: Crispin Guppy and Jon Shepard.
Extracted from Butterflies of British Columbia.
Introduction to the Butterflies of BC
The Families of Lepidoptera of BC

Photograph

© Norbert Kondla     (Photo ID #5306)

Map

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Distribution of Coenonympha tullia yukonensis in British Columbia.
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Source: Butterflies of British Columbia by Crispin Guppy and Jon Shepard © Royal BC Museum

Illustration

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Illustration Source: : Butterflies of British Columbia by Crispin Guppy and Jon Shepard © Royal BC Museum

Species Information


Adult

Northern Ringlets are small, grey brown butterflies with eyespots reduced or absent. Females have orange brown areas on the upperside, and males have tints of orange brown. Male genitalia are short and stocky, with the uncus up to 1.5 times longer than the tegumen. The valves and brachia are broad and slightly sinuous. Male genitalia are grey, shading to black when heavily sclerotized. The genitalia of European populations are similar, but the uncus may be almost twice the length of the tegumen. The only similar species in BC is the Common Ringlet, which is tan or orange brown in colour in both sexes.

Immature Stages

Undescribed in North America.

Subspecies

BC populations are subspecies yukonensis Holland, 1900 (TL: Dawson, YT). The only other North American subspecies are kodiak W.H. Edwards, 1869 (TL: Kodiak, AK), which occurs in southwestern Alaska, and viluiensis Ménétriés, 1859 (TL: Siberia), which occurs on the Seward Peninsula of western Alaska. Both subspecies are entirely shades of grey. Subspecies mixturata Alpheraky, 1897 (TL: Kamchatka, Siberia) has previously been incorrectly attributed to North America instead of viluiensis.

Genus Description


The name Coenonympha is derived from the Greek koinos (shared in common) and numphe (a nymph), possibly meaning a genus containing nymphalid butterflies with widespread distribution (Emmet 1991). The generic common name "ringlets" was first used by Holland (1898) in reference to the small "ringlets" or eye spots on the wings of most species.

Ringlets are small white, orange brown, or grey butterflies with the peculiar bouncing flight pattern characteristic of many other Satyrinae.

In North America, the genus Coenonympha has been treated in a variety of ways by various authors, with the Hayden's Ringlet, C. haydeni (W.H. Edwards, 1872), being the only consistently recognized species. Some authors have considered all North American Coenonympha except haydeni to be subspecies of the European C. tullia Müller, 1764; others have recognized five species in addition to haydeni. Most recently, Layberry et al. (1998) considered all Coenonympha in Canada to be C. tullia, except for C. nipisiquit McDunnough, 1939 in coastal Quebec and New Brunswick.

We have determined that the northwestern BC Coenonympha in the C. tullia group have male genitalia that are significantly different from the C. tullia group in the rest of North America. The male genitalia of northwestern BC Coenonympha are similar to those of European C. tullia, hence we apply the name C. tullia to the northwestern BC populations. The remaining North American populations in the C. tullia group are C. california Westwood, [1851], with C. nipisiquit as a possible additional species.

North American Coenonympha species are therefore C. haydeni, C. tullia, C. california, and possibly C. nipisiquit. C. haydeni is a clearly defined species that needs no further discussion. We do not have enough data to adequately assess the status of C. nipisiquit. C. tullia occurs in Europe, Asia, and northwestern North America. C. california occurs in North America from the Mackenzie River east to Newfoundland, and, in the west, south to California. There are about 22 species in the genus worldwide.

All ringlets hibernate as larvae; the hibernating instarvaries within as well as between populations. Larval foodplants are grasses, but whether specific grasses are chosen is unknown.

Biology


Northern Ringlets are univoltine in North America, and fly in June and July. The larvae hibernate (Tuzov 1997). Larval foodplants are unknown in North America. In Europe and Asia, sedges, rushes, and grasses are used, including Carex, Eriophorum, Festuca, Poa, Rhynchospora alba, and Stipa (Higgins and Riley 1970; Tuzov 1997).

Habitat


Northern Ringlets occur in grass and alpine tundra habitats in northwestern BC.

Distribution

Distribution

Northern Ringlets occur from Britain and Europe across Asia to eastern Siberia, AK, YT, and northwestern BC.

Status Information

Origin StatusProvincial StatusBC List
(Red Blue List)
COSEWIC
NativeS4YellowNot Listed



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