Common Evening Brown

Melanitis leda · Order: Lepidoptera · Family: Nymphalidae

Also called: Evening Brown, Twilight Brown

Damages trees, gardens or crops. They can damage crops such as rice, millets and other grasses.

The Common Evening Brown has two large black spots near the tip of each forewing, each spot edged with a small white dot and a rust-coloured crescent; the hindwing shows a dark eye-spot with a white centre and a fulvous ring near the edge. It lives across Africa, South and South-East Asia and parts of Australia, often defending its area at dusk. Caterpillars feed on many grasses including rice, bamboo and millets, while adults mainly sip nectar and occasionally rotting fruit.

Source: Wikipedia

How to recognize it

Forewings have two big black spots near the tip, each with a smaller white spot and a rust-coloured interrupted crescent; the front edge is narrowly pale. Hindwings show a dark eye-spot with a white centre and a fulvous ring near the margin, plus an apical eye-spot that can be seen from below.

Source: Wikipedia

Where it lives

Found in Africa, South Asia, South-East Asia and parts of Australia. Resident butterflies often chase away other insects at dusk.

Source: Wikipedia

What it eats

Caterpillars eat many grasses such as rice, bamboo, Andropogon, Rotboellia, Brachiaria, Cynodon, Imperata and millets like Oplismenus, Panicum and Eleusine. Adults mainly feed on nectar and sometimes on rotting fruit.

Source: Wikipedia