Common Brown Butterfly

I can never see a butterfly at this time of year without remembering the last scene from All Quiet on the Western Front. It makes me tear up just to think about it.

Such a sad waste of life, and as far as I can see it's never going to end. All this conflict.

If only people would just be kind to each other; would just be tolerant of each others' differences; would just be more caring.

The Common Brown (Heteronympha merope) is a species of butterfly of the Nymphalidae family, 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.

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.

I've seen a few around the garden these last couple of weeks, but this is the first time one has stopped long enough in the right place for me to get an image. This is a male, the females seem to fly a lot later in the season.