Erebia I can't decide upon...

[David M]

Grrr!

I thought I'd exhausted all my 'tentatives', but upon enlarging my images there's still this one that's causing me grief.

Seen puddling at around 1,500m on the last full day, this insect was demonstrably different to the routine array of erebia that I'm used to seeing in this region.

At first, I thought it was a Large Ringlet, but the complete white band on the unh would generally rule this out.

Also, it was smaller than the De Prunners' I normally see, leaving me with a hunch that it might be Piedmont Ringlet?

All assistance gratefully received:

[Roger Gibbons]

It's late and I haven't looked in detail (best to get your excuses out early) but it has the look of Piedmont, very probably a female. This is a rather variable species but I can see good reasons for eliminating every other contender.

I'd be interested in Guy's opinion on this.

Toger

[Padfield]

I agree. The dew spot is wrongly placed for triaria - and the underside is wrong. Although euryale females can indeed have a complete white band, this always has a tooth in the middle - and I've never seen the dew spot in this species (also, do you get adyte-like forms in that region?). Everything looks good for meolans. The weak fringe chequering is within specs for meolans.

Guy

[David M]

Thanks for your input, both.

Always welcome, always reassuring, and always (aside from beer moments) accurate!