Tirupur, Tamil Nadu, India, October 2012
European distribution
In European books this
butterfly
is called the African ringlet. It is found on a few easter Aegean
islands, Cyprus and
eastwards into Turkey. It is much commoner in the Middle East and
southern Asia and the
picture above was taken in Tirupur, in Tamil Nadu, India, where it is
known as the common threering.
The upperside is dark, with a single twin-pupilled, yellow-ringed apical ocellus in each forewing, with a pale surround. There is a smaller, single-pupilled, yellow-ringed ocellus in the anal angle of the hindwing. There are three ocelli on the rough-textured, grey underside hindwing. The forewing ocellus, just visible in this photo, is the same on underside and upperside.
The caterpillars feed on grasses, including meadow grasses and the adults fly in a succession of broods from April to late October.
The upperside is dark, with a single twin-pupilled, yellow-ringed apical ocellus in each forewing, with a pale surround. There is a smaller, single-pupilled, yellow-ringed ocellus in the anal angle of the hindwing. There are three ocelli on the rough-textured, grey underside hindwing. The forewing ocellus, just visible in this photo, is the same on underside and upperside.
The caterpillars feed on grasses, including meadow grasses and the adults fly in a succession of broods from April to late October.