Erebia epiphron
In 3 days ~60% in a week ~90%
The small mountain ringlet or mountain ringlet (Erebia epiphron) is a butterfly of the family Nymphalidae. It is found in mountainous regions of southern and central Europe. Mountain areas of Albania, Andorra, Austria, Great Britain, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Liechtenstein, North Macedonia, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Spain, Switzerland, Yugoslavia (Serbia, Kosovo, Voivodina, Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia).
It is Britain's only true alpine species of butterfly. The larva feeds on moor matgrass near bogs and springs and the nectar-feeding adult visits bilberry, tormentil and heath bedstraw. The pale cream eggs are laid singly, each female laying up to 70. The egg stage lasts two or three weeks.
The larva is green with a double dorsal and a single lateral white or yellowish line. The third instar larvae hibernate in grass tussocks. They emerge in the spring and recommence feeding. Some larvae spend two years in this stage, the result of a late spring and short summer restricting growth. Recorded larval food plants are Aira praecox (Czechoslovakia, Spain), Deschampsia cespitosa (Czechoslovakia... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mercantour National Park | 🇫🇷 France | |
| 2 | Vanoise National Park | 🇫🇷 France | |
| 3 | Aigüestortes National Park | 🇪🇸 Spain | |
| 4 | Pyrénées National Park | 🇫🇷 France |
Possible
About 30% of wildlife watchers report a Mountain Ringlet sighting in Mercantour National Park on a given day, based on 42 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 59th most-seen of the 412 insects we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 60%, and over a week to about 90%, if each day is a fresh chance.
July
In that month about 40% of wildlife watchers report a Mountain Ringlet in Mercantour National Park on a given day, against under 5% in September to May, the lowest months.
Between 11 am and 2 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Mountain Ringlet sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
Yes
Of the 4 parks where we can rate Mountain Ringlet sightings, Mercantour National Park has the highest daily chance: about 30%. Next come Vanoise National Park (France, about 10%) and Aigüestortes National Park (Spain, about 10%).
Same genus: Erebia
The closest relatives of the Mountain Ringlet that you can see in Mercantour National Park (genus Erebia, Alpines) are Almond Ringlet (about 40%), Large Ringlet (about 40%) and Common Brassy Ringlet (about 40%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Mountain Ringlet is recorded against all the insects logged in Mercantour National Park (42 verified sightings from 2019 to 2026), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.
