Bug FAQSilver-bottom Brown
Pseudonympha magus · Order: Lepidoptera · Family: Nymphalidae
The silver-bottom brown (Pseudonympha magus) is a butterfly in the Nymphalidae family. It lives along South Africa’s southern coast from the Western Cape near Cape Town to the Eastern Cape and adults are on the wing from September to April, with two overlapping generations each year.
Source: Wikipedia
How to recognize it
Pseudonympha magus, called the silver-bottom brown, belongs to the butterfly family Nymphalidae.
Source: Wikipedia
Size
Males and females have a wingspan of about 40 to 44 millimetres.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it lives
It lives along South Africa’s southern coast, from the Western Cape near Cape Town eastward to the Eastern Cape.
Source: Wikipedia
What it eats
The caterpillars feed on grasses in the Poaceae family, such as Cynodon dactylon, and can also be reared on Ehrharta erecta.
Source: Wikipedia
Life cycle
Adults fly from September through April, peaking in October and February, with two overlapping generations each year.
Source: Wikipedia
When you see it
They are on the wing from early spring to mid-autumn.
Source: Wikipedia
More photos
Questions people ask
When can I see the silver-bottom brown butterfly?
Adults are active from September to April, with the highest numbers in October and February.
Source: Wikipedia
Same family (Nymphalidae)
Sources
- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pseudonympha_magus
Look it up elsewhere: GBIF · iNaturalist · BugGuide · Wikipedia
Text written 2026-10-24 from the sources above and checked sentence by sentence against them. Data fetched 2026-10-23.