This is one of the earlier ringlets, emerging on my local mountain at about 1800m in mid-June, when it is the only Erebia species, and remaining on the wing until the beginning of August. It is particularly associated with relatively damp areas of long grass, and will often be found among the grasses, though males will also gather at minerals along tracks and stream beds.

It is the underside that most deserves the name 'bright-eyed'. Even in weakly marked individuals, the spots seem to wink at you. The upperside is very variable, ranging in the male from almost all dark, with a hint of reddish containing blind apical eyespots (quite common in the Swiss subspecies, lugens), to well marked, with full bands and white-pupilled eyespots. The last picture above - a frame from an old video - shows form pacula, an exceptionally 'bright-eyed' form which can apparently turn up in any population.