Aesthetic appeal and diverse opportunities for scientific study have kept butterflies at the forefront of evolutionary and behavioural research. Research in butterfly communication has received increased attention in recent literature expanding our understanding of their behaviour and sensory world. Presently, most research has focused on vision and chemoreception, but the role of hearing remains largely unexplored. Here, we describe the morphology and taxonomic distribution of the Vogel’s organ in a subfamily of Nymphalidae, the Satyrinae. We describe, in detail, the anatomy and auditory sensitivity of select Satyrinae species including the speckled wood butterfly, Pararge aegeria (Linneaus). Our recordings indicate that this organ functions as a tympanal ear, facilitating the reception of low frequency sound stimuli (<18 kHz). In conjunction with behavioural trials, our results support the hypothesis that hearing plays a role in the detection and evasion of diurnal predators, namely birds. The diversity of morphological forms throughout the Satyrinae, however, presents the possibility that the function of these hearing organs may vary.