Whilst birdwatching in the Tanoumah area recently I came across a Common Grass Yellow butterfly Eurema hecabe. They are also known as ‘Large Grass Yellows’ or ‘Grass Yellows’ and are small to medium butterflies that are found in Africa, Arabia, Asia, South Pacific islands and Australia. They are bright lemon yellow in colour, and have black markings at the tips and borders of the butterfly’s wings and a narrow black band on the hind wing, and the underside of the wings are paler yellow with brown speckles and a wingspan of 35 to 45 millimetres. Common Grass Yellow butterflies like to fly quickly, close to the ground, are found in open grassy or bushy terrain, hence their name. They have different colouration in their wings depending on the season, known as ‘seasonal polyphenism’, resulting in generally darker wing colours in summer. They are often seen in large groups. The female is larger and a paler yellow, with broader black but diffused markings on the upper sides of both wings. There are typically two cell spots on the forewing – a characteristic that is mainly used to identify the lookalike species in the genus.
