North American Butterflies and Moths List

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Butterflies of North America

Butterflies of Virginia

Carolina Satyr (Hermeuptychia sosybius)
JPG -- species photo

Carolina Satyr (Hermeuptychia sosybius [Fabricius])

Wing span: 1 1/4 - 1 1/2 inches (3.2 - 3.8 cm).

Identification: Upperside is brown with no markings. Underside is brown; both wings have many small eyespots rimmed with yellow.

Life history: Adults have a slow, weak flight, and are usually found flying in the forest understory. Males patrol during the day to find receptive females. Caterpillars eat leaves.

Flight: Several broods throughout the year in South Texas and the Deep South; three broods from April-October in the northern part of the range.

Caterpillar hosts: Carpet grass (Axonopus compressus), centipede grass (Eremochloa ophiuroides); probably St. Augustine grass (Stenotaphrum secundatum), Kentucky bluegrass (Poa pratensis), and others.

Adult food: Sap and rotting fruit.

Habitat: Grassy places and woodlands.

Range: Southern New Jersey south along the Atlantic Coast to southern Florida; west to southeast Kansas, central Oklahoma, central Texas, and Mexico.

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.

Note: This butterfly was formerly called Hermeuptychia hermes, but the type locality of hermes is South America and North American populations do not represent the same species.

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:


Glassberg,  J.  1993.  Butterflies Through Binoculars: A Field Guide to 

     Butterflies in the Boston-New York-Washington Region.  Oxford Univ. Press, 

     New York, N.Y.  160 pp.    



Clark, A.H. and Clark, L.F. 1951.  The Butterflies of Virginia.  Smithsonian

     Miscellaneous collection No. 116:1-239.



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

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

     

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

     Houghton Mifflin Co., Boston.     



Woodbury, E.N.  1994.  Butterflies of Delmarva.  Delaware Nature Society, Inc., 

     Tidewater Publishers, Centreville, MD.  138 pp.  [NOTE: this book only 

     treats True Butterflies (Papilionoidea).  It does not treat Skippers 

     (Hesperioidea).]

Carolina Satyr (Hermeuptychia sosybius)
distribution map
map legend

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