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Plain tiger
तितली (titli)
A medium-sized orange butterfly with black wing tips crossed by a white band and a scatter of black spots. It is common and flies all year.
👀 How to recognise it
The flight is slow and unhurried, low over grass and flower beds — it does not dodge, because it does not need to. Males have an extra black spot in the middle of each hindwing.
Where to see it
Delhi
Aravalli Biodiversity Park built its butterfly conservatory by planting more than 100 species of host plants, and the tiger butterflies are among the notable species the park lists there.
Aravalli Biodiversity Park · Garden of Five Senses · Sunder Nursery
Mathura
The caterpillars feed on milkweeds, whose sap makes the adult butterfly distasteful to birds, hence the slow, obvious flight and the warning colours. Several other Indian butterflies copy its pattern for the same protection. It is one of the commonest butterflies of the Braj plain.
Raman Reti, Gokul · Brahmand Ghat, Mahavan
Agra
Depicted in an ancient Egyptian fresco at Luxor, which makes it one of the first butterflies ever recorded in art; its caterpillar feeds on the madar plant.
Taj Nature Walk · Keoladeo Ghana National Park (Bharatpur)
Chandigarh
Depicted in an ancient Egyptian fresco at Luxor, which makes it one of the first butterflies ever recorded in art; its caterpillar feeds on the madar plant.
Butterfly Park, Sector 26 · Leisure Valley
Hampi
Its foodplant Calotropis is the madar offered to Shiva and to Hanuman, so the butterfly's entire life cycle runs on a plant that is laid at the shrines all over Hampi.
Daroji Sloth Bear Sanctuary · Hemakuta Hill · Sanapur Lake
Haridwar
Depicted in an ancient Egyptian fresco at Luxor, which makes it one of the first butterflies ever recorded in art; its caterpillar feeds on the madar plant.
Jhilmil Jheel Conservation Reserve · Rajaji National Park, Chilla
Hyderabad
Depicted in an ancient Egyptian fresco at Luxor, which makes it one of the first butterflies ever recorded in art; its caterpillar feeds on the madar plant.
KBR National Park · Hyderabad Botanical Garden (Kotla Vijayabhaskara Reddy) · Mahavir Harina Vanasthali National Park
Jaipur
Its bright warning colours are copied by several harmless butterflies that gain protection by looking like it. It is one of the classic cases of mimicry, and it plays out on any patch of Jaipur waste ground where aak grows.
Central Park · Jhalana Leopard Reserve · Sisodiya Rani Bagh (often)
Pushkar
Wherever aak grows the plain tiger follows, which in the Pushkar valley means almost any strip of sandy waste ground. Several harmless butterflies mimic its colours to borrow the protection.
Pushkar Sand Dunes · Budha Pushkar Lake (Old Pushkar) (often)
Ujjain
Depicted in an ancient Egyptian fresco at Luxor, which makes it one of the first butterflies ever recorded in art; its caterpillar feeds on the madar plant.
Naulakhi Eco Tourism Park · Dewas Tekri (Mata Tekri)
Varanasi
Depicted in an ancient Egyptian fresco at Luxor, which makes it one of the first butterflies ever recorded in art; its caterpillar feeds on the madar plant.
Sarnath Deer Park · Chandraprabha Wildlife Sanctuary