Female Common Brown Butterfly

Common Brown Butterfly

Common Brown Butterfly
Female Common Brown Butterfly, March 28, 2011.

Common Brown Butterflies – Heteronympha merope – are both common and numerous. At this time of year only the females are left, waiting for cooler weather and green grass to lay their eggs on. In the meantime they gather in great numbers around food plants, never too far from grassy fields.

From mid to late summer you can’t walk through the paddocks without disturbing clouds of Common Browns. Butterfly strike (being flown into) is quite common.

This year they enjoyed the over-ripe figs immensely, then moved on to the buddlieas. They can often be seen basking in the sun on dirt, gravel or grass. The Common Browns also appear to be attracted to wild blackberry if they can find it, especially one growing in the shade of eucalypts.


The Common Brown Butterfly
Female Common Brown Butterfly on a fig leaf.
The Common Brown Butterfly
Feeding on an over-ripe, opened fig flower.
The Common Brown Butterfly
Common Browns and bees feeding on figs.

 

The Common Brown Butterfly
Common Browns have fast reflexes. In the time it took to click the shutter they had been startled and took off.
Male Common Brown Butterflies feeding on flowering onions. December 6th, 2010.
Male Common Brown Butterflies feeding on flowering onions. December 6th, 2010.

More information on the Common Brown Butterfly can be found at http://lepidoptera.butterflyhouse.com.au/nymp/merope.html