About Danaus genutia (Cramer, 1779)
This butterfly, Danaus genutia, closely resembles the monarch butterfly Danaus plexippus from the Americas. Its wingspan measures 70 to 95 millimetres (2.8 to 3.7 in). Both males and females have tawny wings with veins marked by broad black bands. Males have a pouch on the hindwing. The wing margins are black with two rows of white spots. The underside of the wings matches the pattern of the upperside, but is paler in color. Male common tigers have a prominent black-and-white spot on the underside of the hindwing. In drier regions, the tawny portion of the hindwing pales, approaching white, which makes the butterfly very similar to the white tiger D. melanippus. Danaus genutia is distributed across India, Sri Lanka, and Myanmar, and extends into South-East Asia and Australia, excluding New Guinea. Across at least the South Asian part of its range, it is fairly common, and very common locally. This butterfly lives in scrub jungles, fallow land adjacent to human habitation, and dry and moist deciduous forests. It prefers areas with moderate to heavy rainfall, and also occurs on degraded hill slopes and ridges, whether these areas are bare, denuded, or covered in secondary growth. Though it is a strong flier, it never flies rapidly or high. It has stronger, faster wing strokes than the plain tiger. It travels far in search of its host plants and nectar plants, and visits gardens to feed on nectar from the flowers of Adelocaryum, Cosmos, Celosia, Lantana, Zinnia, and similar flowers.
