Little Wood Satyr relaxes on a wet leaf at Millington WMA.

The Little Wood Satyr (Megisto cymela) with its extremely prominent eyespots is very recognizable.

I have read that this Satyr tends to fly in the late spring and early summer months and can be common on cloudy days when other butterflies may not be out, and that assessment seems to be true. I only came across a Little Wood Stayr once, in all my treks, and that was in late May after a rainstorm. As you can tell from the photo above, the leaves were still wet, so these guys won’t shy away from a little  gloomy weather.

Closed wing view of a Little Wood Satyr.

This tangent also allows me to get into a little aside on Millington – really a great spot for insect variety. For such a small Wildlife Management Area I have seen a wide variety of butterflies, spiders, beetles, true bugs – it’s a great area. The paths are easy to walk, and, well – it’s the only place in Maryland I’ve seen a Little Wood Satyr.

This one flew along the ground mostly, pretty low, and danced about this small tree where it took time to pose on leaves. It let me get pretty close and seemed undisturbed; also offered up plenty of shots of open and closed wings.