Genus NEOMINOIS Scudder
PL. LXVIII
For a detailed account of the structure and metamorphoses of these insects the reader is referred to “The Butterfly Book.” There are only two species found in our territory and we give figures of the upper side of both of them, so that the student will be able to recognize them when he gets them.
(1) Neominois ridingsi (Edwards), [Plate LXVIII], Fig. 1, ♂. Type (Ridings’ Satyr).
The upper side is well shown in our figure. The under side is paler than the upper, and the basal and mesial areas are mottled with narrow pale brown streaks, while the hind wing is crossed about the middle by a dark band, the outer margin of which is sharply indented. Expanse 1.50 inch. Larva pupates under ground.
Inhabits the mountain states of the Pacific Coast.
(2) Neominois dionysius Scudder, [Plate LXVIII], Fig. 2, ♂ (Scudder’s Satyr).
On the under side the mesial band of the hind wings is narrower and more irregularly curved than in the preceding species and the outer indentations are more strongly produced. Expanse 1.00 inch. Occurs in Colorado, Utah, and Arizona.
Genus SATYRUS Westwood
(The Wood-nymphs).
Medium-sized or small butterflies. Wings marked with eye-spots, or ocelli. On upper side generally very obscurely colored with some shade of gray or brown, occasionally marked by yellow bands; under side frequently beautifully streaked and spotted, with the ocelli more prominent than on the upper side. The veins of the fore wing are much swollen at the base. The outer margin of the fore wing is evenly rounded, that of the hind wing somewhat scalloped. Egg barrel-shaped, truncated on top, ribbed on the sides, the ribs at the top connected by a waved, raised elevation. Caterpillar with globular head, cylindrical body, tapering both ways from the middle, and furnished with diverging anal horns. Chrysalis in form like those of many of the genera belonging to this subfamily; green in color. The genus is quite large, and many of the species are very variable.
PL. LXIX
(1) Satyrus pegala (Fabricius), [Plate LXIX], ♀, under side (The Southern Wood-nymph).
Easily recognized by its large size, it being the largest species in our fauna, and by the broad subterminal yellow band on the fore wing marked in the male by one eye-spot, and in the female by two such spots. Expanse 2.75-3.00 inches.
Common in the Gulf States and occasionally occurring as far north as New Jersey.
PL. LXX
(2) Satyrus alope (Fabricius), [Plate LXX], ♀ (The Common Wood-nymph).
Closely resembling the preceding species, but only two thirds its size. The number of the ocelli is not constant, and some specimens lack them entirely. This is the form which is common on the Atlantic seaboard from New Jersey to New Hampshire, and westward to the Mississippi. Expanse 1.75-2.25 inches.
PL. LXXI
(3) Satyrus alope form nephele Kirby, [Plate LXXI], Fig. 1, ♂ (The Clouded Wood-nymph).
This form, long held to be a valid species, has been ascertained by breeding to be a dimorphic variety characterized by the partial or entire suppression of the yellow band on the fore wings and the tendency of the eye-spots to disappear. It is a northern form, and is common in Canada, northern New England, and in corresponding latitudes from the Atlantic to the Pacific. Expanse 1.85-2.25 inches.
(4) Satyrus paulus Edwards, [Plate LXXI], Fig. 2, ♂, Type, under side (The Small Wood-nymph).
Somewhat smaller than S. nephele. Upper side dark brown in both sexes; fore wings always with two ocelli, one near apex, the other near inner angle; hind wing with two ocelli near anal angle. Expanse 1.75-2.00 inches.
Occurs in California and Nevada.
PL. LXXII
(5) Satyrus meadi Edwards, [Plate LXXII], Fig. 1, ♂ (Mead’s Satyr).
Readily distinguished from all others by the bright red on the limbal area above and below. Expanse 1.60-1.75 inch.
Ranges from Arizona to Montana in the region of the Rocky Mountains.
PL. LXXIII
(6) Satyrus charon Edwards, [Plate LXXIII], Fig. 1, ♂, Type (The Dark Wood-nymph).
The type of the species is darker on the under side of the wings than many specimens in the possession of the writer; the under side is in fact somewhat variable. There may or may not be ocelli on the under side. Mr. Edwards named the form without ocelli Satyrus silvestris, but this form is doubtlessly a good species. Both fore and hind wings on the under side are marked abundantly and evenly by little streaks darker in color than the ground, and are crossed on either side of the median area by dark lines, which sometimes are wanting, and are quite variable. Expanse 1.50-1.75 inch.
Ranges from British Columbia to New Mexico, and appears to be common, wherever it occurs.
(7) Satyrus sthenele Boisduval, [Plate LXXIII], Fig. 2, ♂, under side (The Least Wood-nymph).
Quite small, on the upper side resembling S. charon, but very different on the under side. The distinguishing mark of the species is the dark, twice-strangulated band of the hind wings, bordered outwardly on either side by lighter shades. This is shown in our figure. Expanse 1.40-1.50 inch.
Found in California.