BC Conservation Data Centre: Species Summary
Polygonia satyrus
Satyr Anglewing
| Scientific Name: | Polygonia satyrus (W.H. Edwards, 1869) | ||||||||||
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| English Name: | Satyr Anglewing | ||||||||||
| Classification / Taxonomy | |||||||||||
| Scientific Name - Concept Reference: | Pelham, J. P. 2008. A catalogue of the butterflies of the United States and Canada with a complete bibliography of the descriptive and systematic literature. The Journal of Research on the Lepidoptera. Volume 40. 658 pp. Revised 14 February, 2012. | ||||||||||
| Classification Level: | Species | ||||||||||
| Species Group: | Invertebrate Animal | ||||||||||
| Species Code: | LE-POLSAT | ||||||||||
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| Conservation Status / Legal Designation | |||||||||||
| Global Status: | G5 (Nov 2020) | ||||||||||
| Provincial Status: | S5 (Feb 2020) | ||||||||||
| BC List: | Yellow | ||||||||||
| Provincial FRPA list: | |||||||||||
| Provincial Wildlife Act: | |||||||||||
| COSEWIC Status: | |||||||||||
| SARA Schedule: | |||||||||||
| General Status Canada: | 6 - Not Assessed (2000) | ||||||||||
| Ecology & Life History | |||||||||||
| General Description: | Yellowish-orange dorsally with black spots and brown forewing borders. Hindwing borders are pale, suffused with ground colour and contain yellowish spots. Females may have indistinct dorsal wing borders which may be barred. Ventrally, the males are brown and yellowish-brown with dots and striations. The hindwing contains a silvery comma, hooked or enlarged at the lower end. The ventral surface of the females is reddish-brown with a brown band in the middle of each wing. The comma is not a distinct as in males (B89KLA01SKCA). | ||||||||||
| Migration Characteristics: (Global / Provincial) | |||||||||||
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Nonmigrant: Local Migrant: Distant Migrant: Within Borders Migrant: |
N / N / N / na / |
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| Habitats: (Type / Subtype / Dependence) |
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| Global Habitat Comments: | Apparently much like P. COMMA generally near trees but probably can breed in almost any setting with nettles. It is primarily a boreal forest and woodland species often near streams. | ||||||||||
| Food Habits: |
Frugivore: Adult
Herbivore:Immature Nectarivore: Adult Non-nectar Sugar-feeder: Adult |
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| Global Food Habits Comments: | Caterpillar Hosts: Various nettles (Urticaceae). Adult Food: Tree sap, rotting fruit, flower nectar including that from blackberry and almond (Lotts and Naberhaus 2017). | ||||||||||
| Global Phenology: | |||||||||||
| Provincial Phenology: (1st half of month/ 2nd half of month) |
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| Colonial Breeder: | N | ||||||||||
| Length(cm)/width(cm)/Weight(g): | / / | ||||||||||
| Elevation (m) (min / max): |
Global:
Provincial: |
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| Distribution | |||||||||||
| Endemic: | N | ||||||||||
| Global Range Comment: | This species occur sin North America west of the Rockies, from British Columbia to Mexico; also east to Newfoundland and Maine. | ||||||||||
| Authors / Contributors | |||||||||||
| Global Information Author: | KEITH, J. | ||||||||||
| Last Updated: | Sep 22, 1994 | ||||||||||
| Provincial Information Author: | |||||||||||
| Last Updated: | |||||||||||
| References and Related Literature | |||||||||||
Klassen, P., A.R. Westwood, W.B. Preston and W.B. McKillop. 1989. The Butterflies of Manitoba. Manitoba Museum of Man and Nature, Winnipeg, Manitoba. |
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Please visit the website Conservation Status Ranks for definitions of the data fields used in this summary report.
Suggested Citation:
B.C. Conservation Data Centre. 1994. Species Summary: Polygonia satyrus. B.C. Minist. of Environment. Available: https://a100.gov.bc.ca/pub/eswp/ (accessed Jun 5, 2026).