234 The Ottawa Naturalist. [March 



OTTAWA SATYRINyE. 



By A. E. Richard, Ottawa. 



During the warm days of summer, grayish and dark brown 

 butterflies may be seen flying' in a characteristic slow and unc ertain 

 way ; they are called Satyrs, and like their namesakes of old may 

 be found in our fields and forests. 



The Satyrinae are medium-sized butterflies, their wing-s usually 

 adorned with ocelli or round eye-like spots ; in their larval state 

 they feed on grasses and sedges. Some genera occur only 

 in the cold wilderness of polar regions or on the snow-capped 

 summits of mountains in warmer latitudes ; these lonely insects 

 are believed by naturalists to be the remnants of the large num- 

 bers which existed during the glacial period ; the climate of the 

 valley has become too warm for them. All the Satyrs, however, 

 are not inhabitants of the cold north ; the greatest number of 

 species, in fact, and we may say the most beautiful, are found in 

 tropical countries. 



Six species occur in Ottawa and its surroundings, namely : 

 Neonytnpha Eury his {Fa.hr.), Satyrodes Canthus{^d.-LQC.), Saiyrus 

 Nephele (Kirby), Debts Portlandia (Fabr.), Chionobas Jutta (Hbn,), 

 and Coenonympha Inornata (Edw.) ; of these, the first three are 

 common, while the latter three are of rare occurrence. 



Mention may also be made here of two other rare Satyrs 

 which may possibly be taken in this vicinity; one of which, Erebia 

 Discoidalis (Kirby), has been taken at Sudbury, Out., by Mr. J. D. 

 Evans, flying in May ; and the other, Chionobas {CEneis) Macounit 

 (Edw.), perhaps the most remarkable species of the whole genus 

 to which it belongs, was discovered at Nepigon by Prof. John 

 Macoun, flying in July. The life history of this insect has been 

 worked out from the egg by Dr. Fletcher ; this butterfly differs 

 from all the other known species of the genus by the absence of 

 the peculiar band of dark special scales or androconia which are 

 such a conspicuous feature of the fore-wings of the males of the 

 genus Chionobas {CEneis). 



After the snow has melted, Neonyinpha Eurytus is the first 

 species to appear ; this Satyr flies at the end of May and through- 



