Saint Francis's satyr
species of butterfly
The Saint Francis's satyr (Neonympha mitchellii francisci) is a butterfly subspecies found only in the US state of North Carolina. First discovered in 1983, it was first described by David K. Parshall and Thomas W. Kral in 1989 and listed as federally endangered by the US Fish and Wildlife Service in 1994. It is a subspecies of N. mitchellii and is restricted to a single metapopulation on Fort Bragg military base in Hoke and Cumberland counties. The other subspecies, Mitchell's satyr (Neonympha mitchellii mitchellii), is also federally endangered.
Physical characteristics
The Saint Francis's satyr is a small butterfly with an average wingspan of 34–44 mm. It is dark brown, with distinguishing eyespots along the lower surfaces of both the upper and lower wings. The eyespots on its wings are primarily dark brown or maroon, rimmed with yellow and with flecks of white that reflect silver in the middle. They are usually round or slightly oval and found on the forewing and hindwing. There are two bright orange bands running along the lower wing edges and two darker orange bands across the middle of each wing. Females appear slightly larger and lighter brown than males, which is an example of sexual dimorphism.
“Saint Francis's satyr” enters the record as species of butterfly. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Saint, Francis's and satyr can confirm, complicate or overturn.
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Stable identifiers, scientific names and standards terminology offer the best bridge between this overview and specialist evidence. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 14, 2025. The linked authority identifier is Q7401241. The first chronological checks are 1983, 1989 and 1994.
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This entry incorporates text from “Saint Francis's satyr” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.