Species Megisto rubricata - Red Satyr - Hodges#4579

4579

Three subspecies are recognized from north of Mexico. Subspecies cheneyorum is western. Subspecies rubricata is found further east. Subspecies smithorum was described from the Big Bend region in Texas.

The difference between them is insignificant, and identification is best based on where the insect is found (very roughly west of the Rio Grande for the first, east of the Pecos River for the second, and in-between for the third).

However, on average, in subspecies cheneyorum the postmedian dark line of the under side of the front wing stays further from the outer margin as it approaches the inner margin, while in the others it usually reaches nearer to the tornus and often joins with the innermost of the marginal dark lines (usually hidden in photos of living insects); the submedian dark line of the hind wing averages straighter and less irregular in subspecies cheneyorum.

Differentiation of ssp. smithorum from ssp. rubricata is more problematic, only possible based on geography, and the distinction as separate entities seems dubious.

Below, the adult has a red patch on the forewing (not always visible depending how wings are held). Above, red patches and one eyespot on each wing.

Arizona, New Mexico, and south-central Kansas, southward through Oklahoma, Texas and Mexico to Guatemala. Should also be watched for on the wooded high mesas near the south border of eastern Colorado.

Larvae feed on Bermudagrass (Cynodon dactylon) and St Augustine Grass (Stenotaphrum secundatum).