Erebia callias


Erebia callias, the Colorado alpine, is a member of the Satyridae subfamily of the Nymphalidae butterflies. It is found in alpine areas of Wyoming and Colorado in the U.S. Rocky Mountains as well as various mountain ranges in the eastern Palearctic.
The wingspan is 35–38 mm.

Subspecies

  • Erebia callias callias
  • Erebia callias sibirica Staudinger, 1881
  • Erebia callias altajana Staudinger, 1901
  • Erebia callias simulata Warren, 1933
  • Erebia callias tsherskiensis Dubatolov, 1992

Taxonomy

Erebia callias has been lumped as part of the brassy ringlet complex with the Siberian brassy ringlets as they are almost alike morphologically. Though one might suspect stronger differentiation and perhaps marked cryptic speciation across the wide range, the Rocky Mountains population is apparently a very recent isolate. Its ancestors apparently crossed over the Bering Strait at the end of the Wisconsinian glaciation, about 15,000 to 10,000 years ago.