Australian SATYRINAE

SATYRINAE of Australia
including AMATHUSIINI, ELYMIINI, MELANITINI, and SATYRINI
Browns and Satyrs
NYMPHALIDAE, PAPILIONOIDEA

Don Herbison-Evans,
(donherbisonevans@yahoo.com)
and
Stella Crossley

SATYRINAE

eggs

SATYRINAE

caterpillars

SATYRINAE

pupae

SATYRINAE

butterflies

SATYRINAE

undersides

The Caterpillars of SATYRINAE have a head which sometimes has a forked top, and also have a forked tail. The common names of the tribes in SATYRINAE seem to be derived from considerations of the adult Butterflies.

The "Browns" are probably so-named simply because their basic wing colour is brown!

The "Satyrs" may have been named for their similarities to legendary and mythical figures. The "Satyrs" in Greek mythology were the attendants of Bacchus, God of Wine and Revelry. They were grotesque spirits who danced about in woodland glades, and had the head and torso of a man, but the lower half of a goat. The group of NYMPHALIDAE called "Satyrs" are brown, have prominent eyespots, and are generally found in woodland. So perhaps they were so-named because of their woodland haunts, or perhaps because with their eyespots, they looked like grotesque heads.

The Australian species in SATYRINAE are:

Argynnina cyrila : Cyril's Brown
Argynnina hobartia : Hobart Brown