rohan, this is form dorippus of the Plain Tiger (Danaus chrysippus). instead of having the usual white-spotted black fore-wing apex, the tawny color of its wings extends all the way to the wing-tips. it is very rare in india, although in certain parts of africa it is common. it is usually found in drier habitats, such as the gir national park. the Danaid Eggfly (Hypolimnas chrysippus) females, which mimic the Plain Tiger, have a form (called inaria) that specifically and closely mimics dorippus form of the Plain Tiger. and then both the model and the mimic have another form, called alcippoides, with white on the hind wings. frequencies of these forms in the model and the mimic vary seasonally in africa, we don't know whether such seasonal fluctuations occur in india. David A. S. Smith from UK has done superb work on these model-mimic forms in africa for several decades. look up his work on google; it is quite interesting.
At 5:44 PM +0530 12/12/08, Rohan Lovalekar wrote: >Dear friends is it some different form of Danaid eggfly female? >Photo was taken at Gir, Gujrat. > >Rohan Lovalekar -- Dr. Krushnamegh Kunte Post-doctoral Research Fellow (Kronforst Lab) FAS Center for Systems Biology Harvard University 52 Oxford St Northwest Lab Room 458.40-3 Cambridge, MA 02138, USA. Ph: (617) 496-0078 Cell: (512) 577-1370 Fax: (617) 495-2196 Email: [email protected] or [email protected] Academic Website: http://www.people.fas.harvard.edu/~kunte/AcademicsHome.htm General Website: http://www.people.fas.harvard.edu/~kunte/index.htm --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ Enjoy -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
