''Gnophodes betsimena'', the banded evening brown, is a

butterfly Butterflies are winged insects from the lepidopteran superfamily Papilionoidea, characterized by large, often brightly coloured wings that often fold together when at rest, and a conspicuous, fluttering flight. The oldest butterfly fossi ...

of the family

Nymphalidae The Nymphalidae are the largest family of butterflies, with more than 6,000 species distributed throughout most of the world. Belonging to the superfamily Papilionoidea, they are usually medium-sized to large butterflies. Most species ha ...

. It is found in southern

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent after Asia. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 20% of Earth's land area and 6% of its total surfac ...

. The

wingspan The wingspan (or just span) of a bird or an airplane is the distance from one wingtip to the opposite wingtip. For example, the Boeing 777–200 has a wingspan of , and a wandering albatross (''Diomedea exulans'') caught in 1965 had a wingsp ...

is 55–65 mm for males and 60–70 mm for females. Adults are probably on wing year round, but usually from March to August (with peaks from April to June). The larvae feed on various grasses, including ''

Ehrharta erecta ''Ehrharta erecta'' is a species of grass commonly known as panic veldtgrass. The species is native to Southern Africa and Yemen. It is a documented invasive species in the United States, New Zealand, Australia, southern Europe and China. The ...

'',"''Gnophodes'' Doubleday, [1849]"
at Markku Savela's ''Lepidoptera and Some Other Life Forms'' ''Panicum deustum">849]"">"''Gnophodes'' Doubleday, [1849]"
at Markku Savela's ''Lepidoptera and Some Other Life Forms'' ''Panicum deustum'', and ''Setaria'' species.

Subspecies

*''Gnophodes betsimena betsimena'' (Madagascar) *''Gnophodes betsimena parmeno'' Doubleday, [1849] (western Kenya (west of the Rift Valley) to Ethiopia, Uganda, southern Sudan, Zaire, Angola, Cameroon, West Africa) *''Gnophodes betsimena diversa'' Butler, 1880 (eastern Cape to KwaZulu-Natal, Mozambique, eastern Zimbabwe, Malawi, Tanzania, eastern Kenya, northern Kenya (Mount Marsabit)) - yellow banded evening brown

References

Seitz, A. ''Die Gross-Schmetterlinge der Erde'' 13: Die Afrikanischen Tagfalter. Plate XIII 26
Butterflies described in 1833 Melanitini Taxa named by Jean Baptiste Boisduval Butterflies of Africa {{Satyrinae-stub