''Melanitis leda'', the common evening brown, is a common species of butterfly found flying at dusk. The flight of this species is erratic. They are found in Africa,

South Asia South Asia is the southern subregion of Asia, which is defined in both geographical and ethno-cultural terms. The region consists of the countries of Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka.;;;;;;;; ...

and South-east Asia extending to parts of

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

Description

Wet-season form: Forewing: apex subacute;

termen Termen is a municipality in the district of Brig in the canton of Valais in Switzerland. History Termen is first mentioned in 1201 as ''Terman''. Geography Termen has an area, , of . Of this area, 42.2% is used for agricultural purposes, whil ...

slightly angulated just below apex, or straight. Upperside brown. Forewing with two large subapical black spots, each with a smaller spot outwardly of pure white inwardly bordered by a ferruginous interrupted lunule; costal margin narrowly pale. Hindwing with a dark, white-centred, fulvous-ringed ocellus subterminally in interspace two, and the apical ocellus, sometimes also others of the ocelli, on the underside, showing through. Underside paler, densely covered with transverse dark brown striae; a discal curved dark brown narrow band on forewing; a post-discal similar oblique band, followed by a series of ocelli: four on the forewing, that in interspace 8 the largest; six on the hindwing, the apical and subtornal the largest. Dry-season form: Forewing: apex obtuse and more or less falcate; termen posterior to falcation straight or sinuous. Upperside: ground colour similar to that in the wet-season form, the markings, especially the ferruginous lunules inwardly bordering the black sub-apical spots on forewing, larger, more extended below and above the black costa. Hindwing: the ocellus in interspace 2 absent, posteriorly replaced by three or four minute white subterminal spots. Underside varies in colour greatly. Antennae, head, thorax and abdomen in both seasonal forms brown or greyish brown: the antennae annulated with white, ochraceous at apex.

Ecology

Resident butterflies are known to fight off visitors to the area during dusk hours. This chase behaviour is elicited even by pebbles thrown nearby. The

caterpillar Caterpillars ( ) are the larval stage of members of the order Lepidoptera (the insect order comprising butterflies and moths). As with most common names, the application of the word is arbitrary, since the larvae of sawflies (suborder Sym ...

s feed on a wide variety of

grass Poaceae () or Gramineae () is a large and nearly ubiquitous family of monocotyledonous flowering plants commonly known as grasses. It includes the cereal grasses, bamboos and the grasses of natural grassland and species cultivated in lawns an ...

es including rice ('' Oryza sativa''),

bamboo Bamboos are a diverse group of evergreen perennial flowering plants making up the subfamily Bambusoideae of the grass family Poaceae. Giant bamboos are the largest members of the grass family. The origin of the word "bamboo" is uncertain, bu ...

s, ''

Andropogon ''Andropogon'' ( common names: beard grass, bluestem grass, broomsedge) is a widespread genus of plants in the grass family, native to much of Asia, Africa, and the Americas, as well as southern Europe and various oceanic islands. Over 100 spec ...

'', ''Rotboellia cochinchinensis'', ''Brachiaria mutica'', '' Cynodon'', ''

Imperata ''Imperata'' is a small but widespread genus of tropical and subtropical grasses, commonly known as satintails. Satintail grass species are perennial rhizomatous herbs with solid, erect stems and silky inflorescences. The best known species is ...

'', and millets such as ''

Oplismenus compositus ''Oplismenus compositus'', the running mountaingrass, is a species of perennial plant from the family Poaceae that can be found throughout Asia (Pakistan China), Africa, Australia, South America, Mexico and Hawaii. Description The plant is l ...

'', '' Panicum'' and ''

Eleusine indica ''Eleusine indica'', the Indian goosegrass, yard-grass, goosegrass, wiregrass, or crowfootgrass, is a species of grass in the family Poaceae. It is a small annual grass distributed throughout the warmer areas of the world to about 50 degrees lat ...

''. Adults feed mainly on

nectar Nectar is a sugar-rich liquid produced by plants in glands called nectaries or nectarines, either within the flowers with which it attracts pollinating animals, or by extrafloral nectaries, which provide a nutrient source to animal mutualists ...

, and in rare cases visit rotting fruits.

Image gallery

Melanitis ismene ctb.jpg, Upperside pattern Common Evening Brown (Melanitis leda).JPG, Wet season Melanitis leda.jpg, Dry season Common evening brown (Melanitis leda ismene) dry season forms composite.jpg, ''M. l. ismene'' dry season forms, Nepal Open wing of eclosed Melanitis leda (Linnaeus, 1758) – Common Evening Brown.jpg

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q2715925

leda Leda may refer to: Mythology * Leda (mythology), queen of Sparta and mother of Helen of Troy in Greek mythology Places * Leda, Western Australia, a suburb of Perth, Western Australia * Leda makeshift settlement, Bangladesh, a refugee camp ...

Butterflies of Africa Butterflies of Asia Butterflies of Oceania Butterflies of Indochina Butterflies of Australia Butterflies of Indonesia Butterflies of Malaysia Butterflies of Singapore Lepidoptera of Cape Verde Butterflies described in 1758 Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus Insect pests of millets