Satyrinae of the Western Palearctic

The purpose of this website is to illustrate the beauty and varieties of the Satyrinae species of the Western Palearctic and to serve as the number one source website for any information relating to Western Palearctic Satyrinae. For the moment, I will be focusing only on the Hipparchia, Pararge, Berberia, Pyronia, Brintesia, Lasiommata, Maniola, Melanargia, Chazara and the Pseudochazara species, and as time permits, I will also be uploading photos and information relating to the other genera as well.  Hope all Satyrinae enthusiasts will find this website useful.  Any comments and corrections would be more than welcome.

THE GROUP

Satyrinae, the satyrines or satyrids, commonly known as the Browns, is a subfamily of the Nymphalidae (brush-footed butterflies). They were formerly considered a distinct family, Satyridae. This group contains nearly half of the known diversity of brush-footed butterflies. It is estimated that the true number of the Satyrinae species may exceed 2,400.[1]

They are generally weak fliers and often shun bright sunlight. The caterpillars feed chiefly on monocotyledonous plants such as palms, grasses and bamboos. The Morphinae are sometimes united with this group.

The taxonomy and systematics of the subfamily are under heavy revision. Much of the early pioneering work of L. D. Miller[2] has helped significantly by creating some sort of order. According to the latest studies on the classification of Nymphalidae, all Satyrines (except for the genus Dyndirus have been assigned to one of the 6 tribes, at least preliminarily[3].

DISTRIBUTION

The Satyrinae are found in all regions of the world, even close to the Arctic Circle. Because of the vast distribution that this group enjoys, I decided to focus my studies and collections on the Satyrinae of Europe and North Africa. However since the Chazara, Hipparchia and Pseudochazara are my favorites, and their distribution span mainly in the Middle East, I decided to cover this region just for these three genera.  The map to the right shows the entire area of coverage of this website.