Heteronympha merope, the common brown, is a species of butterfly of the family Nymphalidae, endemic to the southern half of Australia. The wingspan is about 60 millimetres (2.4 in) for males and 70 mm (2.8 in) for females.
| Heteronympha merope | |
|---|---|
_male_Kangaroo_Island.jpg)
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_male_underside_Kangaroo_Island.jpg)
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| both males Kangaroo Island, South Australia | |
Scientific classification 
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| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Class: | Insecta |
| Order: | Lepidoptera |
| Family: | Nymphalidae |
| Genus: | Heteronympha |
| Species: | H. merope
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| Binomial name | |
| Heteronympha merope Fabricius, 1775
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| Synonyms | |
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The larvae feed on Poaceae species, including Brachypodium distachyon, Cynodon dactylon, Ehrharta erecta, Poa poiformis, Microlaena stipoides, Poa tenera and Themeda triandra.[1] The common brown butterfly is emerging ten days earlier than it did 65 years ago due to the effects of climate change.[2]
References
edit- ^ Don Herbison-Evans & Stella Crossley (7 May 2008). "Heteronympha merope". University of Technology, Sydney. Retrieved 29 January 2009. [dead link]
- ^ "Climate change causing butterflies to emerge 10 days early - Australian Geographic". Archived from the original on 29 March 2010. Retrieved 25 March 2010.
External links
edit
Media related to Heteronympha merope at Wikimedia Commons
Data related to Heteronympha merope at Wikispecies
