Satyrs and Wood-Nymphs (Subfamily Satyrinae)

SUBFAMILY DESCRIPTION: The Satyrinae are medium-sized species
of the Family Nymphalidae. Members of this worldwide group are most
often brown with one or more marginal eyespots. Males often have
visible patches of specialized scales on the fore- or hindwings. Adults
have short proboscises and rarely visit flowers, feeding instead on
rotting fruit, animal droppings, or sap flows. Nearly all species feed on
grasses and grasslike plants, including bamboos, rushes, and sedges.
Adults usually perch with their wings closed, but open them wide when
basking early in the morning or during cloudy weather. Most species
have local colonies and are not migratory. Males patrol when searching
for mates, flying in characteristic slow, skipping flight. Eggs are laid singly
on the host leaves or stems, and caterpillars feed within shelters of
several leaves sewn together with silk. Development from egg to adult
can take two years in arctic and alpine species, and it is synchronized in
some species. In those species, adult butterflies are only found every
other year. Satyrinae typically overwinter as partially grown caterpillars.

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