Aulocera

Aulocera is a genus in the subfamily Satyrinae (or brown butterflies) of the brush-footed butterfly family, Nymphalidae. Commonly referred to as banded satyrs, species of the genus Aulocera are endemic to the Himalayas and associated mountain ranges.[1]

Aulocera
Aulocera saraswati
Scientific classification
Kingdom:
Animalia
Phylum:
Arthropoda
Class:
Insecta
Order:
Lepidoptera
Family:
Nymphalidae
Subfamily:
Satyrinae
Genus:
Aulocera

Butler, 1867
Species

See text

Taxonomy

Aulocera is considered to be a valid genus by some authorities[1] and a junior subjective synonym of the basal genus Satyrus by others.[2]

List of species

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

Banded satyrs are large powerfully built Himalayan butterflies which are dark brown above. They are characterised by a white band across both wings. The wings have chequered fringes. A dark apical spot or ocellus is present on the forewing. The under hindwing is dark. The under hindwing is beautifully variegated with brown, white and grey.[3]

Males have an obscure brand on the forewing.[3]

Habits

Banded satyrs inhabit the Himalayas from moderate to considerable high altitudes. Fond of open country, they can found elsewhere especially on rocks and paths. Banded satyrs are very fond of sunshine.[3]

Their flight is both graceful and fast ... they settle often, occasionally on flowers ... possibly the finest of all Indian Satyrids.

— Mark Alexander Wynter-Blyth, Butterflies of the Indian Region (1957)

See also

References
  1. Markku Savela's website on Lepidoptera "Aulocera Butler, 1867" at Markku Savela's Lepidoptera and Some Other Life Forms
  2. Beccaloni, G.; Scoble, M.; Kitching, I.; Simonsen, T.; Robinson, G.; Pitkin, B.; Hine, A.; Lyal, C., eds. (2003). "Aulocera". The Global Lepidoptera Names Index. Natural History Museum. . Accessed 27 April 2017.
  3. Wynter-Blyth, Mark Alexander (1957). Butterflies of the Indian Region. Bombay, India: Bombay Natural History Society. pp. 108–109. ISBN 978-8170192329.
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