THE SATYRINAE
The members of this subfamily are medium-sized, obscurely colored, forest-loving butterflies, conspicuous because of their peculiar manner of flopping about in the grass and low herbage.
Satyrus alope, the Wood-nymph butterfly, is a medium-sized grayish brown species, with a broad yellow band across the fore wing. This yellow area contains two eye-spots, dark with blue centers, and in the male there is a smaller eye-spot in the hind wing also. There is a good deal of regional variation in this species: specimens from the Northwest are often small and dark, with a reddish tinge on the lower side of the wings; while in those from northern New England and eastern Canada the yellow band is very dim, and the eye-spots are only vaguely indicated. The eggs are barrel-shaped, and are laid upon various kinds of grasses; the caterpillar has two slender diverging anal horns; the chrysalis is green, with a prominent tubercle on the thorax. The Wood-nymph is not a strong flyer, but flits about in a furtive, moth-like fashion; if pursued it will often close the wings and fall like a leaf into the grass. These butterflies are usually single brooded, and pass the winter in the larval state.