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Little Wood
Satyr Butterfly
Superfamily: Papilionoidea - True Butterflies / Family: Nymphalidae -
Brushfoots / Subfamily: Satyrinae - Satyrs / Species: Megisto cymela
Live Little Wood Satyr adult butterflies photographed at Winfield IL USA.
The wood satyrs are some of the most common butterflies I find in the woods
and fields here near Chicago. It is rarely encountered in built-up areas.
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Little Wood Satyr Butterfly feeding
on oak tree sap |
I came
across a tree sap party one day in late June 2004. There were a dozen or
more Northern Pearly-eyes and Little Wood Satyrs all clustering on one
pin oak tree that was oozing sap at several locations. That sap was like
catnip for those butterflies. They kept coming and going and jockeying
for position, it was really a sight to see. Little Wood Satyrs do not
frequent flowers in search of nectar as do most other butterflies;
adults rarely feed at all, taking only water at puddles or sap as is
shown here. These butterflies are fun to watch when gamboling about
amidst a stand of trees; it really looks as if they are having fun,
which is no doubt how they got their name; satyrs of Greek and Roman
mythology are best known for their fondness for dancing and revelry.
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The Little Wood Satyr's eyespots all
have two "pupils" |
Description: Each wing, both above and below, has two prominent
eyespots with yellow rims and two pupils. Smaller eyespots may be
clustered around large one. No other small satyr has eyespots in pairs
above and below. Life cycle: Eggs are pale green. Caterpillar is
brown with tiny white bumps, feeds on grasses and possibly sedges;
larvae overwinter partially grown. Habitat: Deciduous woods and
forest clearings, meadows and fields, pine woods, salt bays and
streamsides. Range: Saskatchewan, North and South Dakota,
Colorado, Texas and NE Mexico; east throughout southern Canada and U.S.
The Little Wood Satyr is a very adaptable butterfly. It requires
only some woods, grass and moisture to thrive; it is a prodigious
reproducer and can become extremely abundant under the right conditions.
The summer of 2004 was just such a time here near Chicago. I cannot
isolate any particular weather or other conditions that made it so, it
just was. Those butterflies were everywhere! The Little Wood Satyr is
equally at home flitting from tree trunk to tree trunk, many times in a
group of butterflies that seem to be playing tag, and expertly
negotiating tall grass and thick underbrush with its dancing, seemingly
slow-motion flight. They fly on cloudy days, unlike many butterflies,
and they tolerate deep shade as well. There is some controversy
regarding taxonomy of this species; it is thought there are two nearly
identical species operating simultaneously in many locales.
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The Satyr, in Greek
Mythology, is a woodland creature or deity consisting of a cross
between a man and a goat, with a goat's legs and hooves and
the torso and head of a man. Satyrs were said to have a fondness for unrestrained revelry
and ravenous sexual appetites. The most famous of satyrs was Pan, a
forest god of Greek mythology. He was fond of playing a pipe of
reeds known as a syrinx, now know as a Pan pipe or Pan flute. |
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