Aulocera swaha

Aulocera swaha, the common satyr, is a brown (Satyrinae) butterfly that is found in the Himalayas.^[1][2]

Common satyr
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Lepidoptera
Family:	Nymphalidae
Genus:	Aulocera
Species:	A. swaha
Binomial name
Aulocera swaha Kollar, 1844

Range

The butterfly is found in the Himalayas in Afghanistan,^[1] and from Safed Koh, Astor, Chilas, Gilgit, Chitral, Kashmir and Kulu eastwards across to Sikkim.^[3][4]

Status

In 1932, William Harry Evans reported that the species was common from Chitral to Sikkim, and not rare westwards.^[3]

Description

For a key to the terms used, see Glossary of entomology terms.

The common satyr is 60 to 70 mm in wingspan.^[3] Dark brown above, basically ground colour with a bronze sheen. With a white band across both wings. The band varies from white to bright yellow and narrows towards the dorsum on the hindwing which it never reaches (except rarely in the females). It has a chequered fringe and a dark apical spot or ocellus on the forewing. The under hindwing is beautifully variegated with brown, white and grey. The colour below is paler than that of the great satyr (Aulocera padma) which is a larger and more common butterfly.^[5]

See also

• Satyrinae
• Nymphalidae
• List of butterflies of India (Satyrinae)

References

1. "Aulocera Butler, 1867" at Markku Savela's Lepidoptera and Some Other Life Forms
2. LepIndex shows this taxon as Satyrus swaha.[Beccaloni, G.; Scoble, M.; Kitching, I.; Simonsen, T.; Robinson, G.; Pitkin, B.; Hine, A.; Lyal, C., eds. (2003). "​Satyrus swaha​". The Global Lepidoptera Names Index. Natural History Museum. ] LepIndex considers the genus Aulocera Butler, 1867; Ent. mon. Mag. 4: 121, TS: Satyrus brahminus Blanchard to be a junior subjective synonym of Satyrus Latreille 1810 Cons. gén. Anim. Crust. Arach. Ins.: 355, 440, TS: Papilio actaea Linnaeus.[Beccaloni, G.; Scoble, M.; Kitching, I.; Simonsen, T.; Robinson, G.; Pitkin, B.; Hine, A.; Lyal, C., eds. (2003). "​Satyrus​". The Global Lepidoptera Names Index. Natural History Museum. ]
3. Evans, W.H. (1932). The Identification of Indian Butterflies (2nd ed.). Mumbai, India: Bombay Natural History Society. p. 116, ser no D11.3.
4. Haribal, Meena (1992). The Butterflies of Sikkim Himalaya and Their Natural History. Gangtok, Sikkim, India: Sikkim Nature Conservation Foundation. p. 149.
5. Wynter-Blyth, Mark Alexander (1957). Butterflies of the Indian Region. Bombay, India: Bombay Natural History Society. pp. 108–109. ISBN 978-8170192329.

• Wynter-Blyth, Mark Alexander (1957). Butterflies of the Indian Region. Bombay, India: Bombay Natural History Society. ISBN 978-8170192329.
• Haribal, Meena (1992). The Butterflies of Sikkim Himalaya and Their Natural History. Gangtok, Sikkim, India: Sikkim Nature Conservation Foundation.