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Project Noah Nature School
Hypolimnas misippus
adult male wingspan to 63mm, female to 73mm. Sexually dimorphic species with the male instantly recognisable by his black wings with very large white patches edged with iridescent blue-purple shading (photos 1 - 3). The female, however, is predominantly brown with black and white markings towards the wing tips and along the trailing edges (photo 4 - 6). The female strongly resembles (? mimics) the African Monarch butterfly (Danaus chrysippus). A single dark spot towards the leading edge of each hind wings is a distinguishing feature (the monarch has a group of spots)
The Diadem is a species of open wooded country and of gardens. The larvae favour the herbaceous plant genera Asystasia, Portulaca, and Talium
These butterflies visited my (weedy) vegetable garden one hot afternoon after the veggies had been watered. They spent most of their time on the ground rather than on the vegetation
Spotted on Feb 20, 2011
Submitted on Feb 14, 2012
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