Plain Tiger

Description:

The Plain Tiger is a medium-sized butterfly. The body is black with many white spots. The wings are tawny the upper side being brighter and richer than the underside. The hind wing has 3 black spots around the center. The hind wing has a thin border of black enclosing a series of semicircular white spots. Background color and extent of white on the forewings varies somewhat across the wide range. The male Plain Tiger is smaller than the female, but more brightly colored. In addition, male danaines have a number of secondary sexual characteristics. In the case of the Plain Tiger, these are: The male has a pouch on the hindwing. This spot is white with a thick black border and bulges slightly. It is a cluster of specialised scent scales used to attract females. The males possess two brush-like organs which can be pushed out of the tip of the abdomen. It is found in every kind of country including the desert (pending availability of food) and right up into the mountains till 9000 feet. Primarily a butterfly of open country and gardens. The Plain Tiger is protected from attacks due to the unpalatable alkaloids ingested during the larval stages. The butterfly therefore flies slowly and leisurely, generally close to the ground and in a straight line. This gives a would-be predator ample time to recognise and avoid attacking it. Inexperienced predators will try attacking it, but will learn soon enough to avoid this butterfly as the alkaloids in its body cause vomiting. The butterfly also has a tough, leathery skin to survive such occasional attacks. When attacked it fakes death and oozes nauseating liquid which makes it smell and taste terrible. This encourages the predator to release the butterfly quickly. The Plain Tiger thus has the ability to recover "miraculously" from predator attacks that would kill most other butterflies.

Habitat:

Seen on a Lantana plant in my garden.