''Tirumala septentrionis'', the dark blue tiger, is a danaid

butterfly Butterflies are insects in the macrolepidopteran clade Rhopalocera from the Order (biology), order Lepidoptera, which also includes moths. Adult butterflies have large, often brightly coloured wings, and conspicuous, fluttering flight. The ...

found in the

Indian subcontinent The Indian subcontinent is a list of the physiographic regions of the world, physiographical region in United Nations geoscheme for Asia#Southern Asia, Southern Asia. It is situated on the Indian Plate, projecting southwards into the Indian O ...

and

Southeast Asia Southeast Asia, also spelled South East Asia and South-East Asia, and also known as Southeastern Asia, South-eastern Asia or SEA, is the geographical United Nations geoscheme for Asia#South-eastern Asia, south-eastern region of Asia, consistin ...

Description

Closely resembles ''

Tirumala limniace ''Tirumala limniace'', the blue tiger, is a butterfly found in South Asia, and Southeast Asia that belongs to the crows and tigers, that is, the danaid group of the brush-footed butterfly family. This butterfly shows gregarious migratory beha ...

'', Cramer, but is always sufficiently distinct to be easily recognized, even on the wing. From ''T. limniace'' it differs on the upperside in the ground colour being darker and the semi

hyaline A hyaline substance is one with a glassy appearance. The word is derived from el, ὑάλινος, translit=hyálinos, lit=transparent, and el, ὕαλος, translit=hýalos, lit=crystal, glass, label=none. Histopathology Hyaline cartilage is ...

markings narrower, more distinct, and of a bluer tint, In the forewing, in interspace 1 the two streaks are narrower, never coalescent, the upper one forming an oval detached spot; the short streaks above vein 5 are outwardly never truncate, always acute. In the hindwing the two streaks if the discoidal cell united at base are wide apart at their apices, the lower one never formed into a hook. On the underside this species is generally darker, the apex of the forewing and the whole of the ground colour of the hindwing not being of the conspicuous golden brown that they are in ''T. limniace''. Wingspan 80–115 mm.

Distribution

The

Himalayas The Himalayas, or Himalaya (; ; ), is a mountain range in Asia, separating the plains of the Indian subcontinent from the Tibetan Plateau. The range has some of the planet's highest peaks, including the very highest, Mount Everest. Over 100 ...

from Simla to

Sikkim Sikkim (; ) is a state in Northeastern India. It borders the Tibet Autonomous Region of China in the north and northeast, Bhutan in the east, Province No. 1 of Nepal in the west and West Bengal in the south. Sikkim is also close to the Siligur ...

, into Assam, Myanmar,

Cambodia Cambodia (; also Kampuchea ; km, កម្ពុជា, UNGEGN: ), officially the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country located in the southern portion of the Indochinese Peninsula in Southeast Asia, spanning an area of , bordered by Thailand t ...

and

;

Odisha Odisha (English: , ), formerly Orissa ( the official name until 2011), is an Indian state located in Eastern India. It is the 8th largest state by area, and the 11th largest by population. The state has the third largest population of ...

;

West Bengal West Bengal (, Bengali: ''Poshchim Bongo'', , abbr. WB) is a state in the eastern portion of India. It is situated along the Bay of Bengal, along with a population of over 91 million inhabitants within an area of . West Bengal is the fourt ...

, southern India, the Western Ghats and

Nilgiris The Nilgiri Mountains form part of the Western Ghats in northwestern Tamil Nadu, Southern Karnataka, and eastern Kerala in India. They are located at the trijunction of three states and connect the Western Ghats with the Eastern Ghats. At le ...

;

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...

Habits

This species is one of the predominant species (78%) during the migratory season in southern India during which many species migrate. Both males and females appear to migrate in equal numbers.

Life cycle

Caterpillar is similar to that of ''T. limniace'' (see ''Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society'' x, 1896, p. 240). It is said by MacKinnon and de Nicéville to feed on '' Vallaris dichotoma'' (''Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society'' xi, 1807, p. 212). Other species include '' Cosmostigma racemosa'', '' Heterostemma brownii'' and ''

Cocculus ''Cocculus'' is a genus of 11 species of woody vines and shrubs, native to warm temperate to tropical regions of North America, Asia and Africa. The common name moonseed is also used for the closely related genus '' Menispermum''. Selected s ...

'' species.Gaden S. Robinson, Phillip R. Ackery, Ian J. Kitching, George W. Beccaloni and Luis M. Hernández HOSTS - A Database of the World's Lepidopteran Hostplant

Accessed October 2006 File:Dark blue tiger egg sec.jpg , Egg File:Dark blue tiger cat sec.jpg , Caterpillar File:Dark blue tiger pupa sec.jpg , Pupa File:VB 057 Dark Blue Tiger.jpg , Adult Dark blue tiger (Tirumala septentrionis dravidarum) male underside.jpg, Male ''T. s. dravidarum'' Dark blue tiger (Tirumala septentrionis septentrionis) male underside Phi Phi.jpg, Male ''T. s. septrionis''

References

External links