North American Butterflies and Moths List

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Butterflies of North America

Butterflies of Michigan

Appalachian Brown (Satyrodes appalachia)
JPG -- species photo

Appalachian Brown (Satyrodes appalachia [R. L. Chermock])

Wing span: 1 7/8 - 2 1/4 inches (4.8 - 5.7 cm).

Identification: Wings are medium brown. Lower side of forewing with the two end eyespots larger than the middle two; spots may not touch. Dark line inside the hindwing row spot is sinuous, not zigzagged.

Life history: To court females, males patrol and occasionally perch in small sunlit openings. Females lay eggs singly on or near the host plants; caterpillars feed on leaves at night and hide at the base of the plant during the day. Third- and fourth-stage caterpillars hibernate.

Flight: One brood from July-September in the north, two broods from June-October in the south.

Caterpillar hosts: Sedge (Carex lacustris) and giant sedge (Rhynchospora inundata) in the sedge family (Cyperaceae).

Adult food: Sap and other non-floral resources.

Habitat: Wooded wet swamps, shrub swamp, forest edges, and along slow-moving streams.

Range: Eastern Minnesota east to central New England and southern Quebec south through the Appalachians and coastal plain to Mississippi and Alabama. Isolated population in north peninsular Florida.

Conservation: Not usually required.

The Nature Conservancy Global Rank: G5 - Demonstrably secure globally, though it may be quite rare in parts of its range, especially at the periphery.

Management needs: None reported.

References:


Opler, P. A. and G. O. Krizek. 1984. Butterflies east of the Great Plains. Johns 

     Hopkins University Press, Baltimore. 294 pages, 54 color plates.



Opler, P. A. and V. Malikul. 1992. A field guide to eastern butterflies. Peterson 

     field guide #4. Houghton-Mifflin Co., Boston. 396 pages, 48 color plates.



Scott, J. A. 1986. The butterflies of North America. Stanford University Press, 

     Stanford, Calif. 583 pages, 64 color plates.

Author: Jane M. Struttmann

State and Regional References:


Layberry, R.A., Hall, P.W. & Lafontaine, D.J., 1998.  The Butterflies of 

     Canada.  University of Toronto Press, Toronto, ON.  280 pp.



Nielsen, Mogens C., 1999.  Michigan Butterflies and Skippers: A Field Guide 

     and Reference.  Michigan State University Extension, East Lansing, MI.

     248 pp. 

     

Opler, P.A. 1998. A field guide to eastern butterflies, revised format.

     Houghton Mifflin Co., Boston.     

Appalachian Brown (Satyrodes appalachia)
distribution map
map legend

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