Common Brown ( merope subsp. merope)

Wingspan - ~56mm Photo: Tony Morton

Note 1: The upper side of the male wings are shown on top and upper side of the female wings are shown on the bottom.

Note 2: The plant name on the bottom right refers to the plants upon which the larvae (caterpillars) feed.

Other Common Names: None

Family of : (Browns and Nymphs)

1

Butterflies of the Mount Alexander Shire – A Castlemaine Field Naturalists Club publication Tony Morton’s documented records of Common Brown from the local area (between 2000 to 2013): Sixteen

Date Location Notes 29-Feb-2000 Vaughan walk

14-Nov-2000 Everywhere in forests males begin to appear in numbers

10-Jan-2001 Rotunda & Ridge, Kalimna Park

16-Jan-2001 Green Gully Rd. walk

15-Dec-2002 Green Gully Road, Glen Luce

15-Dec-2002 The Monk, Chewton

20-Nov-2005 Vaughan Garden just emerged

5-Dec-2009 Vaughan walk several males 11.30 - 1.30p.m.

Bot Gardens, off Froomes Road, 15-Jan-2011 C'maine

7-Nov-2011 Axe Creek, Dragonfire Castle plentiful, mainly male

18-Nov-2011 Kalimna Point very plentiful

24-Dec-2011 Kalimna Point many

many, as above, wings stuck to sap, 27-Mar-2012 Kalimna Point bodies missing. Vespa germanica around. Also native bees

9-Nov-2012 Vaughan garden males begin to emerge (in Melbourne too)

30-Dec-2012 around Castlemaine very numerous this year

common, beginning to cluster on bark of 1-Jan-2013 Kalimna Park eucalypts

Other documented local observations: None

Distribution Across Victoria (from Field 2013): Found across most of Victoria.

Larval Host Plants (Field 2013): Native grasses such as Weeping Grass ( stipoides), Kangaroo Grass () and some tussock grasses (Poa spp.). Introduced grasses such as Panic Veldt Grass (Erhardta erecta) and Couch ().

Larval association with ants (Field 2013): None.

2

Butterflies of the Mount Alexander Shire – A Castlemaine Field Naturalists Club publication Adult Flight Times in Victoria (from Field 2013): Adults have been recorded from October to May, and most commonly from November to March.

Conservation Status:

National Butterfly Action Plan (2002): No conservation status Australian Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999: Not listed

Victorian Flora and Fauna Guarantee Act 1988: Not listed Advisory List of Threatened Victorian Invertebrates (DSE 2009): Not listed

Other Notes: Common within a range of habitats and urban areas in the Mount Alexander Shire.

Males known to hilltop. Females generally inactive unless disturbed.

References and further reading:

Braby, M. F. (2004) The Complete Field Guide to the Butterflies of Australia. CSIRO Publishing, Melbourne.

Victorian Department of Sustainability and Environment (2009) Advisory List of Threatened Invertebrate Fauna in Victoria – 2009. Department of Sustainability and Environment, East Melbourne, Victoria (http://www.depi.vic.gov.au/environment-and-wildlife/threatened--and- communities/threatened-species-advisory-lists)

Field, R.P. (2013) Butterflies: Identification and Life History. Museum Victoria Publishing, Melbourne.

Sands, D.P.A. and New, T.R. (2002) The Action Plan for Australian Butterflies. Environment Australia, Canberra (http://www.environment.gov.au/resource/action-plan-australian-butterflies)

Museum of Victoria Bioinformatics – Australian Butterflies: The Victorian Fauna http://museumvictoria.com.au/bioinformatics/butter/

3

Butterflies of the Mount Alexander Shire – A Castlemaine Field Naturalists Club publication