Evening Brown Melanitis leda
Wingspan: 60 mm - 63 mm
Sighted Claire Cottage: Dec - Apr
There are two seasonal forms; a dry season form and a wet season form.
Distribution: northern WA, the northern areas of NT, all QLD east coast, NSW east coast south to Port Stephens, just north of Newcastle.
Status Claire Cottage: uncommon
Status Dorrigo Plateau: thought to be uncommon
NOTE: No similar species.
Wingspan: 60 mm - 63 mm
Sighted Claire Cottage: Dec - Apr
There are two seasonal forms; a dry season form and a wet season form.
Distribution: northern WA, the northern areas of NT, all QLD east coast, NSW east coast south to Port Stephens, just north of Newcastle.
Status Claire Cottage: uncommon
Status Dorrigo Plateau: thought to be uncommon
NOTE: No similar species.
Evening Brown Melanitis leda
Wingspan: 60 mm - 63 mm
Sighted: December to April
Distribution: northern WA, the northern areas of NT, all QLD east coast, NSW east coast south to Port Stephens, just north of Newcastle.
Butterfly Sightings:
Larva Sightings:
Larval Food Plants:
Status Dorrigo Plateau: uncommon
Flight habit: Tends to fly short distances before settling on leaf litter and closing its wings immediately increasing its camoflage. Often resumes short flights if disturbed whilst continuingly settling again.
Last autumn sighting - Claire Cottage Dorrigo Plateau: 15/04/18 - 08.50am (Dry Season Form), 25/03/23,
First warm season sighting - Claire Cottage Dorrigo Plateau: 29/12/18 - 17.30pm (Wet Season Form), 07/12/20 17.00pm (Wet Season Form)
INTERESTING OBSERVATIONS
For a long while it proved difficult to get a photo of an Evening Brown with its wings even partially open. We noted as soon as Evening Browns land on leaf litter they close their wings and immediately blend in with the leaf litter. Hence to obtain a photograph one needs to watch very carefully the exact spot where the Evening Brown lands for after settling on leaf litter its underside wing colours enable it to disappear in to the leaf litter background.
The first Evening Brown we found at Claire Cottage (17th Feb 2010) was attracted to our verandah moth light, after dark, but still in early evening, settling on our moth sheet.
Mostly Evening Browns are spotted on the wing in either early morning or late afternoon, they prefer to fly in shady areas around trees. They tend to fly close to the ground and for only fly short distances before re-settling on leaf litter.
2022 - 12 years after sighting our first Evening Brown here at Claire Cottage their numbers remain low with very few sightings (sadly).
Butterfly release: @ 10.00am 18/04/22 in a small sunny spot within our rainforest arboretum. We hoped the newly emerged butterfly would sit and open its wings to warm in the warming sun. Instead we watched as an immediate longish flight followed under the canopy with our butterfly ascending the slope and disappearing from our sight (sad as we had hoped it would remain in the sun for a few moments and open its wing enabling us to get a rare photo of the upperside of both fore & hind wings - no such luck on that occassion). The final pupa to hatch on 04/05/22 produced just one opportunity to obtain a photo of the upperwing surface whilst the butterfly was feeding prior to release - see photo above dated 4 May 2022.
2023-24/03/23 An adult butterfly flew into our open garage, we spotted it @ 07.45am when we were rushing to an 08.00am appointment in town. We later released it in the rainforest arboretum following our return home.
Wingspan: 60 mm - 63 mm
Sighted: December to April
Distribution: northern WA, the northern areas of NT, all QLD east coast, NSW east coast south to Port Stephens, just north of Newcastle.
Butterfly Sightings:
- CLAIRE COTTAGE:
- Dec 2018, 2020;
- Jan 2019 (4), 2022,
- Feb 2010, 2011,
- Mar 2023,
- Apr 2018,
- DORRIGO PLATEAU: None to date
Larva Sightings:
- CLAIRE COTTAGE: None to date
- DORRIGO PLATEAU: Urunga-Mar 2022 (emerged @ CC April & May 2022),
Larval Food Plants:
- CLAIRE COTTAGE: POACEAE: Imperata cylindrica (Blady Grass)
- DORRIGO PLATEAU elsewhere: (as for Claire Cottage)
- ELSEWHERE: POACEAE: - Chrysopogon sp., Heteropogon triticeus (Giant Speargrass), Leersia hexandra (Swamp Ricegrass) Ophiuros exaltatus (Canegrass), Themeda australis (Kangaroo Grass), *Melinis minutiflora (Molasses grass), *Pennisetum pedicellatum (Desho grass), *Saccharum sp., (Sugarcane), *Sorghum verticilliflorum, (Wild Sudan Grass), *Sorghum vulgare (Sorghum Bicolor), *Stenotaphrum secundatum (Buffalo Grass),
Status Dorrigo Plateau: uncommon
Flight habit: Tends to fly short distances before settling on leaf litter and closing its wings immediately increasing its camoflage. Often resumes short flights if disturbed whilst continuingly settling again.
Last autumn sighting - Claire Cottage Dorrigo Plateau: 15/04/18 - 08.50am (Dry Season Form), 25/03/23,
First warm season sighting - Claire Cottage Dorrigo Plateau: 29/12/18 - 17.30pm (Wet Season Form), 07/12/20 17.00pm (Wet Season Form)
INTERESTING OBSERVATIONS
For a long while it proved difficult to get a photo of an Evening Brown with its wings even partially open. We noted as soon as Evening Browns land on leaf litter they close their wings and immediately blend in with the leaf litter. Hence to obtain a photograph one needs to watch very carefully the exact spot where the Evening Brown lands for after settling on leaf litter its underside wing colours enable it to disappear in to the leaf litter background.
The first Evening Brown we found at Claire Cottage (17th Feb 2010) was attracted to our verandah moth light, after dark, but still in early evening, settling on our moth sheet.
Mostly Evening Browns are spotted on the wing in either early morning or late afternoon, they prefer to fly in shady areas around trees. They tend to fly close to the ground and for only fly short distances before re-settling on leaf litter.
2022 - 12 years after sighting our first Evening Brown here at Claire Cottage their numbers remain low with very few sightings (sadly).
Butterfly release: @ 10.00am 18/04/22 in a small sunny spot within our rainforest arboretum. We hoped the newly emerged butterfly would sit and open its wings to warm in the warming sun. Instead we watched as an immediate longish flight followed under the canopy with our butterfly ascending the slope and disappearing from our sight (sad as we had hoped it would remain in the sun for a few moments and open its wing enabling us to get a rare photo of the upperside of both fore & hind wings - no such luck on that occassion). The final pupa to hatch on 04/05/22 produced just one opportunity to obtain a photo of the upperwing surface whilst the butterfly was feeding prior to release - see photo above dated 4 May 2022.
2023-24/03/23 An adult butterfly flew into our open garage, we spotted it @ 07.45am when we were rushing to an 08.00am appointment in town. We later released it in the rainforest arboretum following our return home.