SATYRIDA3. By H. Fruhstorfer. 
285 
4. Family: Satyridae. 
The morphology and biology of this cosmopolitan family have already been sufficiently dealt with in 
the Palearctic part (vol. 1, p. 79) and in the discussion of the South American forms (vol. V, p. 173), so that 
only a few points peculiar to the tropical Asiatic Satyrids remain to be treated of here. 
A sharp differentiation of the Satyrids from the following family (the Amathusiids) is almost impossible, 
especially as regards the larval form and. that of the sexual clasping-organs, and Haase’s erection of the group 
of Satyromorpbids, to which reference has been already made in the Palearctic part, is constantly receiving 
fresh support as our knowledge increases. 
There is also some resemblance to the Danaids, but more /in the coloration than anatomically, for the 
clasping-organs approximate much more to the Nymphalids than to the Danaids. In general the occurrence 
of convergences is a characteristic of the Satyrids and the perfect imitations of the genus Elymnias, that para¬ 
digm of the adherent of the mimicry theory, never ceases to call forth our astonishment. 
In accordance with the retiring habits of the shade-loving Satyrids all, probably without exception, 
have a weak flight and they prefer the underwood, though some species follow the cultivation of the rice in 
South and. East Asia and others prefer open pasture-land. The species are for the most part of uniform colouring 
and. their habit of dropping after a short flight and even settling obliquely, heightens their resemblance to 
dry or rotten leaves. But together with monotonously coloured groups of species we also find, in the great 
forest regions, species clothed in the glossy blue of the Euploeids ( Coelites , Ptychandra), while others wear the 
hyaline white of Hestia and. Ideopsis ( Zethera , Elymnias ), and the Australian species have in common a pecu¬ 
liar ochre-yellow colouring, probably adapted to their sterile environment. Pure reds and greens have not 
yet been recorded., but several New Zealand, and. insular species have metallic decorations on the under sur¬ 
face. A commonly recurring scheme is white, yellow or brown oblique bands on the forewing. 
The clasping-organs are as a rule of the simplest structure, and in most cases even without essential 
differences between the Palearctic and the tropical genera. The long, distally pointed uncus bears two lateral 
clasps, slightly curved upwards, the valve is always provided with bristles and more or less broad, mostly with 
simple top, only rarely armed with teeth. The only exception is the genus Zethera, the valve of which bears 
d.orsally an appendage shaped like a snake’s head, into which the point of the uncus can be pushed. Jullien’s 
rods, i. e. bundles of bristles welded, together as in the European Eumenis fagi (= Satyrus hermione) and al- 
cyone have not yet been observed in the Asiatic species. Only in certain Maniola (Epinephele ) there are similar 
rods, but of smaller extent, and. in Eumenis ( Satyrus) semele from North India dorsal or subdorsal tufts of fine 
hairs are found, remotely recalling the scent-hairs of the Danaids. The organs are the most simplified in Mela- 
nitis, in which the lateral points of the uncus are wanting and. the valve shows the simplest structure. 
In the development of the secondary sexual characters the Indo-Australian Satyrids are behind the 
South American and even the African, on the other hand sexual dimorphism and heteromorphism is developed 
to an almost unparalleled extent. Some species of the genera Elymnias and Zether'a even lay aside their family 
garb in order to assume more completely the style of colouring of the models from other families. That the 
members of so weak and pliant a family as the Satyrids should also be in the highest degree susceptible to cli¬ 
matic influences is only natural. Some species of the genera Mycalesis and Ypthima are actually so modified 
by the influence of the contrasting seasons as to be unrecognizable, and it is almost impossible in female examples 
of the dry-season form to settle their identity with their or to separate the different species. Many Satyrids 
are locally confined to isolated mountain peaks, single valleys and also islands. Ubiquitous species are relative¬ 
ly rare and become increasingly so as we proceed eastwards, breaking up into good species. In their vertical 
distribution they resemble many Pierids and Nymphalids, as they ascend, to 4000 nr., leaving far behind them 
the Danaids, which scarcely reach 2000 m. 
The most striking and beautiful species prefer the woods in the hot lowlands of the coast-district, yet 
the number of species scarcely decreases at elevations of 1000—1500 m. 
In general the Satyrids in the tropics do not present to the eye the same lively picture which is dis¬ 
played in the height of summer on our meadows and woodlands. The relative poverty of tropical Asia is doubt¬ 
less due' to the absence of the more tender Gramineae, these being supplanted by the ill-famed lalang grass 
which is unpalatable to most larvae. In addition to this, the tropical wood does not produce grasses and their 
giant relative, the bamboo, apparently serves as food-plant only to the genus Lethe. But in those subtropical 
