Erebia sudetica is a satyrine butterfly endemic to the mountains of Central and Eastern Europe. It has a highly patchy distribution at high elevations in the Massif Central (South-central France), the French and Swiss Alps, the Sudety Mountains of Poland and the Czech Republic, and the Carpathians of Romania (Kudrna 2002). The butterflies are found in alpine and subalpine meadows where the caterpillars feed on grasses (Sonderegger 1996, 2005). Several subspecies are recognized, and a series of studies have investigated the population genetics and ecology of this species (Cupedo 1996, Cuvelier & Dincă 2007, Habel et al. 2010, Haubrich & Schmitt 2007, Konvička et al. 2010, Kuras et al. 2001a,b, 2003, Schmitt 2009). Erebia sudetica was listed in Appendix II of the Bern Convention (Council of Europe 1979). Most populations are threatened due to changes in land use (Lepidopterologen-Arbeitsgruppe 1987, Sonderegger 1996, van Swaay et al. 2012, Wermeille et al. 2007).
