Tirumala petiverana
Encyclopedia
The Blue Monarch, African Blue Tiger or Dappled Monarch (Tirumala petiverana) is a butterfly
Butterfly
A butterfly is a mainly day-flying insect of the order Lepidoptera, which includes the butterflies and moths. Like other holometabolous insects, the butterfly's life cycle consists of four parts: egg, larva, pupa and adult. Most species are diurnal. Butterflies have large, often brightly coloured...

 of the Nymphalidae
Nymphalidae
The Nymphalidae is a family of about 5,000 species of butterflies which are distributed throughout most of the world. These are usually medium sized to large butterflies. Most species have a reduced pair of forelegs and many hold their colourful wings flat when resting. They are also called...

 family. It is found in tropical Africa
Africa
Africa is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...

. The habitat consists of Afromontane, lowland and riverine forests.

The wingspan
Wingspan
The wingspan of an airplane or a bird, is the distance from one wingtip to the other wingtip. For example, the Boeing 777 has a wingspan of about ; and a Wandering Albatross caught in 1965 had a wingspan of , the official record for a living bird.The term wingspan, more technically extent, is...

 is 60-75 mm. There is one generation per year. Adults are on wing from February to May (with peaks in April) in Zimbabwe.

The larvae feed on Pergularia extensa, Pergularia daemia, Daemia, Hoya
Hoya
Hoya is a genus of 200-300 species of tropical plants in the family Apocynaceae , fomerly considered to be in the Asclepiadaceae...

and Marsdenia rubicunda.
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