Oriental Striped Tiger

Danaus genutia genutia (Cramer, [1779])

Malayalam Name 

:

വരയൻ കടുവ

Family 

:

Nyphalidae

Sub-family             

:

Danainae

Tribe                     

: 

Leptociaini

Order

:

Lepidoptera


DISTRIBUTION
               Pe
STATUS:   No
HABITAT
This butterfly occurs in scrub jungles, fallowland adjacent to habitation, dry and moist deciduous forests, preferring areas of moderate to heavy rainfall. Also occurs in degraded hill slopes and ridges, both, bare or denuded, and, those covered with secondary growth
HABITS
Members of this genus are leathery, tough to kill and fake death. Since they are unpleasant to smell and taste, they are soon released by the predators, recover and fly off soon thereafter. The butterfly sequesters toxins from plants of the family Asclepiadaceae. The butterflies also congregate with other danaiines to sip from the sap of Crotalaria, Heliotropium and other plants which provide the pyrrolizidine alkaloids which they sequester.
IDENTIFICATION  FEATURES
The butterfly closely resembles the monarch butterfly (Danaus plexippus) of the Americas. The wingspan is 70 to 95 millimetres (2.8 to 3.7 in). Both sexes of the butterfly have tawny wings with veins marked with broad black bands. The male has a pouch on the hindwing.The margins of the wings are black with two rows of white spots. The underside of the wings resembles the upperside but is paler in colouration. The male common tiger has a prominent black-and-white spot on the underside of the hindwing. 

 

SIMILAR SPECIES  
The striped tiger is mimicked by both sexes of the Indian Tamil lacewing (Cethosia nietneri mahratta) and the leopard lacewing (Cethosia cyane) and females of the Common palmfly (Elymnias hypermnestra).
LARVAL HOST PLANTS
Asclepias curassavica, Ceropegia fantastica, C. hirsuta, C. intermedia, C. lawii, C. vincifolia, Cynanchum callialatum, C. dalhousiae, C. liukiuense, Holostemma ada-kodien, Marsdenia floribunda, M. tinctoria, M. tomentosa, Passularia, Raphistemma pulchellum, R. lemma, Tylophora flexuosa (Apocynaceae).

LIFE CYCLE


MORE IMAGES

female( pouch strip absent in hindwing
female( pouch strip absent in hindwing
female

Male 
Male(pouch gland present in hindwing)

Courtesy 
Write up:Wikipaedia
Images: TNHS

കേരള വനം വന്യജീവി വകുപ്പ്  
മാങ്കുളം ഡിവിഷൻ

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