Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Lepidoptera
Family: Nymphalidae
Genus: Tirumala
Species: T. hamata
Binomial name: Tirumala hamata
Sub species: Tirumala hamata hamata
Synonym: Danais hamata hamata
Common name: Blue Tiger, Dark Blue Tiger, Blue Wanderer
Tirumala hamata (Blue Tiger) is a rare find in New Zealand. Only a few have been found in N.Z. and it probably arrived from Australia where it is a relatively common species. They are native to Australia, Malaysia, South and Southeast Asia, with varying subspecies.
The Blue Tiger butterfly has a wingspan of about 70 mm. Adults have black wings with blue spots. The larvae which are grey with black bands between segments and orange lateral lines and a black head with white markings feed on a wide range of plants.
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Thanks to Wikipedia for text and information http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/
