Leonard Weber

December 28, 2023

The honor of closing this year’s series on butterflies of Eliza Howell Park goes to Common Ringlet. It is noteworthy for two quite different reasons.

1. Common Ringlet is variable in appearance, even in one location, as is indicated by these Eliza Howell photos.

It is small, with a wingspan of an inch to an inch and a half. It’s seen from May through August, often low on leaves and stems, sometimes nectaring on flowers. It spends the winter in the caterpillar stage.

It shows orange when it flies, but is rarely seen with wings open when perching. There is usually a dark spot near the tip of the forewing below, but sometimes that is absent or hard to see.

2. The second noteworthy point about Common Ringlet is that it is frequently present here in Detroit, contrary to reports about its territorial range.

It is common in Eliza Howell Park and has been since at least 2011, when I started keeping more detailed records. The sources we turn to for butterfly information, on the other hand, both the published field guides and the online reports, indicate that it is not to be found in southern Michigan.

The range of the Common Ringlet is often described as being expanding,  but none of the guides that I have seen would lead us to expect to find it here. Yet here it is, in good numbers, year after year.

The southward movement from Canada through New England in recent decades is reported, but its presence in southern Michigan has not (yet) been recognized in revised range maps.

Common Ringlet is a favorite. It is reliably present, the individual variations are worth attention, and there is something appealing about a species that doesn’t stay within the lines drawn by the lepidopterists!