Publ. 20. VI. 1911. 
SATYR] DiE; ELYMNIOPSJS. By Dr. C. Aurivillius. 
81 
4. Family: Satyriclas. 
As in the preceding and following families, so also here the forelegs in both sexes are aborted and 
without claws; the foretarsi in the cd are long-haired and unjointed, but in the ? less hairy and with short 
joints. The Satyrids are distinguished from the Danaidids by having the submedian vein of the forewing 
simple at the base and by the entirely different pattern; from the Nymphalids they differ in the compressed 
palpi and in having the cell of both wings completely closed by a strong transverse vein. One to three of 
the veins on the forewing are inflated at the base, a structure which among the Nymphalids is only found in 
the Eurytelince and the Eunicince. 
The Satyrids are small or medium-sized butterflies, the wings usually of a dark, blackish or black- 
brown colouring, which beneath and often also above is adorned with submarginal eye-spots or eye-dots; 
occasionally other light markings also occur. The wings are thin and slenderly built and the flight is slow 
and fluttering. The species occur both in open districts and in the deepest shades of the primeval forests. 
The egg is somewhat higher than broad, spherical or barrel-shaped, and usually not narrower 
above than beneath; its surface is smooth or has nummerous shorter or longer ribs, which are nearly 
always simple and straight. 
The larva is smooth or often fine-haired, gradually narrowing anteriorly and especially posteriorly and 
is distinguished by the last segment terminating in two longer or shorter points. The head usually appears 
cleft above or armed with two long spines. The larvae live on grasses or nearly allied monocotyledonous 
plants and are usually of a green or greenish colour and hence difficult to find when resting on the blades of grass. 
The pupae are rather short and thick, rounded without sharp angles or corners; the head is rounded 
or with two points. They are suspended free by the anal end or sometimes lie on the ground among 
stones or grass-culms. 
The Satyrids occur in all parts of the Ethiopian Region. Almost all the species and 10 of the 15 
genera are peculiar to this fauna. It is worthy of note that the Satyrids play a far more important role on 
Madagascar than in the other African subregions. They form there about 24 per cent of the butterflies and 
are represented by some 50 species peculiar to the island. 
Cencerning the habits and the peculiarities of the Satyrids of other countries and continents cf. vol. 
I, p. 79; vol. V, p. 178; vol. IX, p. 285. 
The Satyrids of the Ethiopian fauna belong to two subfamilies, of which the first is often regarded 
as a separate family. 
Synopsis of the Subfamilies. 
A. The hindwing at the base with distinct subcostal cell, very large in the ?, which is formed by vein 
8 being connected by a transverse vein with the anterior margin of the middle cell. Vein 8 diverges 
gradually from the very beginning from the anterior margin of the middle cell. 1. Elymniince. 
B. The hindwing without subcostal cell. 2. Satyrince. 
1. Subfamily: Elymniinae. 
On the forewing the costal vein only is inflated at the base. In the markings the Elymniinids differ from the 
Satyrinids in having the wings at least beneath densely covered with fine transverse streaks. Only one African genus. 
1. Genus: Elimniopsis Fruhst. 
This genus is nearly allied to the typical genus Elymnias*) from the Indo-Malayan Region and only 
differs from it materially in having veins 6 and 7 of the hindwing arising much nearer together. The 
earlier stages are not known. 
*) See vol. IX, p. 371—392, pi. 87—90. 
XIII 
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