The Cape Brown is a butterfly

Butterfly

A butterfly is a mainly day-flying insect of the order Lepidoptera, which includes the butterflies and moths. Like other holometabolous insects, the butterfly's life cycle consists of four parts: egg, larva, pupa and adult. Most species are diurnal. Butterflies have large, often brightly coloured...

 of the Nymphalidae

Nymphalidae

The Nymphalidae is a family of about 5,000 species of butterflies which are distributed throughout most of the world. These are usually medium sized to large butterflies. Most species have a reduced pair of forelegs and many hold their colourful wings flat when resting. They are also called...

 family. It is found in South Africa

South Africa

The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...

, in the mountains of the Western Cape from Cederberg to Swartberg down to the coast, then along the south-east coast and hills to the eastern Cape and into Great Karoo.

The wingspan

Wingspan

The wingspan of an airplane or a bird, is the distance from one wingtip to the other wingtip. For example, the Boeing 777 has a wingspan of about ; and a Wandering Albatross caught in 1965 had a wingspan of , the official record for a living bird.The term wingspan, more technically extent, is...

 is 33–37 mm for males and 34–38 mm for females. Adults are on wing from September to April (with a peak from October to March).

The larvae feed on various sedges and restios, including Ficinia ramosissima, Ficinia elongata, possibly Ficinia acuminate, Restio

Restio

Restio is the name of a group of plants within the Restionaceae. Many species formerly included within the Restio genus are now classified into a number of other genera including Acion, Baloskion and Eurychorda....

species, including Restio tenuissimus.