Most of the species occur in sub-Saharan Africa and Madagascar.

The ranges of four species extend to Asia, mainly in India and Sri Lanka.

Hybridization occurs between several species, complicating molecular phylogenetic studies, especially those relying on mitochondrial and chloroplast DNA sequences.

Historically other species with helmet-shaped flowers e.g. Aceras, Chamorchis and Platanthera, often were included in the genus Satyrium, but far from belonging in the same genus, they no longer are included even within the Satyriinae, but within the tribe Orchideae.

In a 2015 classification of Orchidaceae, Satyrium itself was placed in the subtribe Orchidinae.