''Satyrus ferula'', the great sooty satyr, is a

butterfly Butterflies are insects in the macrolepidopteran clade Rhopalocera from the Order (biology), order Lepidoptera, which also includes moths. Adult butterflies have large, often brightly coloured wings, and conspicuous, fluttering flight. The ...

of the family Nymphalidae.

Description

The length of the forewings is 25 to 30 mm. This species shows an evident

sexual dimorphism Sexual dimorphism is the condition where the sexes of the same animal and/or plant species exhibit different morphological characteristics, particularly characteristics not directly involved in reproduction. The condition occurs in most ani ...

and the males are much more close to each other in appearance than the females. The wings of the males are usually dark brown on both surfaces, while in the female the wings are paler, with broad greyish bands on the undersides of the hindwings. On both sides of the forewings they have two-four black ocelli with white pupils, the first one much larger than the lower ones. The flight period extends from June to early September and the butterflies lay their eggs on the grass. The larvae are recorded as feeding on various grasses, including '' Stipa'', '' Festuca'', ''

Bromus erectus ''Bromus erectus'', commonly known as erect brome, upright brome or meadow brome, is a dense, course, tufted perennial grass. It can grow to . Like many brome grasses the plant is hairy. The specific epithet ''erectus'' is Latin, meaning "erect ...

'' and ''

Deschampsia caespitosa ''Deschampsia cespitosa'', commonly known as tufted hairgrass or tussock grass, is a perennial tufted plant in the grass family Poaceae. Distribution of this species is widespread including the eastern and western coasts of North America, parts o ...

''. (Higgins, Riley, 1982)

Distribution

It is found in southern Europe,

Morocco Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to ...

Asia Minor Anatolia, tr, Anadolu Yarımadası), and the Anatolian plateau, also known as Asia Minor, is a large peninsula in Western Asia and the westernmost protrusion of the Asian continent. It constitutes the major part of modern-day Turkey. The re ...

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

Kazakhstan Kazakhstan, officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a transcontinental country located mainly in Central Asia and partly in Eastern Europe. It borders Russia to the north and west, China to the east, Kyrgyzstan to the southeast, Uzbeki ...

Central Asia Central Asia, also known as Middle Asia, is a subregion, region of Asia that stretches from the Caspian Sea in the west to western China and Mongolia in the east, and from Afghanistan and Iran in the south to Russia in the north. It includes t ...

, Transbaikal, western

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

and the

Himalayas The Himalayas, or Himalaya (; ; ), is a mountain range in Asia, separating the plains of the Indian subcontinent from the Tibetan Plateau. The range has some of the planet's highest peaks, including the very highest, Mount Everest. Over 100 ...

Habitat

This species prefers grassy, rocky areas, calcareous grasslands, forest clearings at an elevation of above sea level (up to 3000 m in North Africa). File: Satyrus ferula (Fabricius, 1793).JPG, Mounted specimen File: Satyrus ferula1.jpg, Dorsal view File:Val Noci, Genova, Italy.JPG, Habitat of ''Satyrus ferula'' (Val Noci,

Genoa Genoa ( ; it, Genova ; lij, Zêna ). is the capital of the Italian region of Liguria and the List of cities in Italy, sixth-largest city in Italy. In 2015, 594,733 people lived within the city's administrative limits. As of the 2011 Italian ce ...

, Italy, about 500 m a.s.l.)

References

*Lionel G. Higgins and Norman D. Riley (1988) ''Field Guide to the Butterflies of Britain and Europe'' Collins, London
"''Satyrus'' Latreille, 1810"
at Markku Savela's ''Lepidoptera and Some Other Life Forms''
Fauna Europaea

External links

Lepiforum.de
Fauna of Pakistan Satyrini Butterflies described in 1793 Butterflies of Asia Butterflies of Europe Taxa named by Johan Christian Fabricius {{Satyrini-stub