False Ringlet
Coenonympha oedippus
Unlike many butterflies that soar high, the False Ringlet rarely flies more than a few feet above the ground, weaving through tall grasses to stay hidden.
- Scientific name
- Coenonympha oedippus
- Taxonomy
- Animalia › Arthropoda › Insecta › Lepidoptera › Nymphalidae › Coenonympha
- IUCN Red List status
- Near Threatened
- Population trend
- decreasing
- Biome
- wetland
- Habitat
- Damp meadows, tall-grass marshes, fens, and peat bogs with high humidity.
- Diet
- Larvae feed on various grasses and sedges (Poaceae and Cyperaceae); adults feed on nectar from wetland wildflowers.
- Range
- Central Europe, Southern Europe, Temperate Asia, Japan
- Size
- 35-45 mm wingspan.
- Lifespan
- 2-3 weeks as a winged adult; up to 1 year including larval stages.
- Active
- diurnal
- Threats
- Habitat loss due to wetland drainage, intensification of agriculture, and the abandonment of traditional mowing practices.
- Safe to approach?
- Completely harmless to humans. These butterflies are extremely fragile; do not attempt to catch or touch them, as oils from human skin can damage their wing scales. Maintain a distance of at least two meters and stay on marked paths to avoid trampling their delicate marshland habitat.
Coenonympha oedippus , the false ringlet , is a species of butterfly in the subfamily Satyridae. It is found in Austria, Belgium, France, Hungary, Italy, Japan, Kazakhstan, Liechtenstein, Mongolia, Poland, Russia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Switzerland, and Ukraine. It is extirpated from Bulgaria, Germany, and Slovakia.
Photo: Oleg Kosterin, CC-BY, via iNaturalist
Plain-text version: /species/fa8bbc85-a25f-4746-bf80-44788391b8cc.md