''Ideopsis vulgaris'', the blue glassy tiger, is a

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 ...

that belongs to the crows and tigers, that is, the danaid group of the

brush-footed butterflies The Nymphalidae are the largest family of butterflies, with more than 6,000 species distributed throughout most of the world. Belonging to the superfamily Papilionoidea, they are usually medium-sized to large butterflies. Most species have a redu ...

family.

Subspecies

Subspecies In biological classification, subspecies is a rank below species, used for populations that live in different areas and vary in size, shape, or other physical characteristics (morphology), but that can successfully interbreed. Not all species ...

include: * ''Ideopsis vulgaris contigua'' Talbot, 1939 – (Central

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Laos Laos (, ''Lāo'' )), officially the Lao People's Democratic Republic ( Lao: ສາທາລະນະລັດ ປະຊາທິປະໄຕ ປະຊາຊົນລາວ, French: République démocratique populaire lao), is a socialist ...

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China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

) * ''Ideopsis vulgaris macrina'' (Fruhstorfer, 1904) –

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, P.

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, W.

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)

Distribution

This species can be found in

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

, South

Burma Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John Wells explai ...

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- Alor,

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–

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Habitat

These butterflies inhabits a range of habitats, but especially occur at the edge of rainforest or plantations and in the coastal mangrove areas.

Description

''Ideopsis vulgaris'' has a wingspan reaching . This butterfly is quite similar to the dark glassy tiger (''

Parantica agleoides ''Parantica agleoides'', the dark glassy tiger, is a butterfly found in India that belongs to the crows and tigers, that is, the danaid group of the brush-footed butterflies family. Description Like ''Parantica aglea'', but differs structurall ...

''). A transverse black bar in the forewing cell, cutting through one of the white streaks, distinguishes the blue glassy tiger from the other one.Butterfly Circle
/ref> As other ''

milkweed butterfly Danainae is a subfamily of the family Nymphalidae, the brush-footed butterflies. It includes the Daniadae, or milkweed butterflies, who lay their eggs on various milkweeds on which their larvae (caterpillars) feed, as well as the clearwing butt ...

'' it is mimicked by '' Chilasa clytia'' (

Papilionidae Swallowtail butterflies are large, colorful butterflies in the family Papilionidae, and include over 550 species. Though the majority are tropical, members of the family inhabit every continent except Antarctica. The family includes the larges ...

). Upperside: black, the dorsal margin of hindwing broadly cinereous; both wings with the following subhyaline bluish-white streaks and spots. Forewing: a short streak along dorsal margin, two broad streaks united at base in interspace 1, the upper one curved, a broad streak in cell with an outwardly indented detached spot beyond it in apex, a slender costal streak, two large discal spots inwardly pointed, outwardly truncate, three elongate spots beyond apex of cell and four or five elongate preapical spots beyond them, finally a subterminal and a terminal series of spots decreasing in size towards apex of wing. Hindwing: elongate streaks in interspaces 1 a and 1 b, two in interspace 1, two in cell with a short slender streak-obliquely between their apices, shorter streaks radiating outwards in interspaces 2–6, a sub-terminal series of small spots and a terminal row of dots beyond. Nymphalidae - Ideopsis vulgaris macrina

Underside: similar, the markings better defined. Antennae black, palpi black above, bluish white below; head and thorax black, spotted with bluish white; abdomen brown above, sullied white below. Male without any special sex-marks on the wings. Race ''exprompta'', Butler (Sri Lanka). Closely resembles ''D. vulgaris'' Butler, but has all the markings much broader, the apical spot in cell of forewing outwardly less emarginate; on the hindwing interspaces 1 a and 1 b are entirely filled with the white streak, while the short slender streak lying between the apices of the streaks in the cell coalesces with the lower one. Race ''nicobarica'', W.-M. & de N. (Nicobar Islands). Like the preceding race, but the subhyaline markings still broader and somewhat blurred. Upperside: forewing: the whole basal two-thirds of interspace 1 bluish white, enclosing a fine longitudinal black line; streak in discoidal cell vary broad, occasionally produced to the apical spot in the cell. Hindwing: the black in interspace 1 reduced to a mere streak; cell entirely bluish white, traversed longitudinally by a faint black forked line. In the solitary specimen of the male in the collection of the British Museum this line is entirelyabsent.

Similar species

* Blue tiger (''

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 ...

'') * Dark glassy tiger (''

'')

Biology

Adults can be found all the year around.iNaturalist
/ref> They frequently visit flowers for feeding. Females lay white eggs similar to a rugby ball. These eggs take about 3 days to hatch. The caterpillars are white with a black head, while the 2nd instar caterpillars are dark wine red to dark purplish brown colored, with whitish spots and a length about . In the 5th and last instar caterpillars reach .

Larva A larva (; plural larvae ) is a distinct juvenile form many animals undergo before metamorphosis into adults. Animals with indirect development such as insects, amphibians, or cnidarians typically have a larval phase of their life cycle. The ...

e feed on

Gymnema ''Gymnema'' (Neo-Latin, from Greek γυμνὀς ''gymnos'', "naked" and νῆμα, ''nēma'', "thread") is a genus in the family Apocynaceae first described as a genus in 1810. One species, ''Gymnema sylvestre ''Gymnema sylvestre'' is a pere ...

species (

Asclepiadaceae The Asclepiadoideae are a subfamily of plants in the family Apocynaceae. Formerly, they were treated as a separate family under the name Asclepiadaceae, e.g. by APG II, and known as the milkweed family. They form a group of perennial herbs, twin ...

), Tylophora fleuxosa (a climber typical of mangrove areas), Tylophora tenuissima (

Apocynaceae Apocynaceae (from ''Apocynum'', Greek for "dog-away") is a family of flowering plants that includes trees, shrubs, herbs, stem succulents, and vines, commonly known as the dogbane family, because some taxa were used as dog poison Members of the ...

) and is thus distasteful to birds.''Ideopsis vulgaris''
Funet.fi The pupa is bright yellowish green, with a length of . After about 7 days the butterfly emerges.

References

External links

* Brower, Andrew V.Z. (2010)
Glassy Tigers
{{Taxonbar, from=Q2675426 Ideopsis Butterflies of Singapore Butterflies of Borneo Butterflies of Java Butterflies of Indochina Butterflies described in 1874 Taxa named by Arthur Gardiner Butler Articles containing video clips