Common Ringlet

Perched on thistle

Common Ringlet
Coenonympha tullia
Family: Nymphalidae
Subfamily: Satyrinae

Life History: To seek females, males patrol above the tops of grasses with a bouncy flight. First- and fourth-stage caterpillars hibernate in mats of dead grass.

Flight: One to two broods from March-October, depending on locality.

Caterpillar

Chrysalis

Caterpillar Hosts: Grasses and rushes.

Adult Food: Flower nectar.

Habitat: Grassy, open areas in a wide variety of habitats, including fields, meadows, grasslands, and tundra.

Range: Holarctic. In North America from Alaska south through the western mountains to Baja California Norte, southeast Arizona, and central New Mexico; across southern Canada to Quebec and New England; south to Long Island. Isolated populations in Newfoundland and New Brunswick. The range is still expanding in the East.



Caterpillar and chrysalis photos from web.