SS75 (Specimen in square slide paperweight)

Real butterfly Plain Tiger African Monarch - Danaus chrysippus specimen encased in square indestructible lucite block. Safe, authentic and completely unbreakable product put real Butterfly right at your fingertips!

Anyone can safely explore the Butterfly from every angle. 

The pictures show the top and reverse side of the butterfly.

The butterfly wings are disassembled and laminated before embedding into the material so as to retain 100% of the original color(colors of butterfly are mostly powder particles attached to the wings), otherwise up to 90% of the color will be dissolved into the Lucite material after production and the wings become almost transparent.

Length of the Butterfly body is 3.3 cm (1.3 inch, fake flat paper body) and the wings stretch to 6.6 cm (2.5 inch).

Size of the lucite block is 7.5x7.5x1.0 cm (3.0x3.0x0.4 inch).

Each one comes with a cardboard box for easy storage.

Weight of the block is 60 g and 100 g with packing box.

This is a handmade real animal specimen craft. Each one will be a bit different (specimen size, color and posture) even in the same production batch.
 

The pictures in the listing are just for reference as we are selling multiple pieces with same pictures.

It is an ideal learning aid for students and kids and also a very good collectible item for every body.

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Plain Tiger (African Monarch) - Danaus chrysippus

Order: Lepidoptera    Family: Nymphalidae    Genus: Danaus    

Danaus chrysippus, known as the Plain Tiger or African Monarch, is a common butterfly which is widespread in Asia and Africa. It belongs to the Danainae ("Milkweed butterflies") subfamily of the brush-footed butterfly family, Nymphalidae. It is a medium-sized, non-edible butterfly, which is mimicked by multiple species.

The Plain Tiger is believed to be one of the first butterflies to be used in art. A 3500 year old Egyptian fresco in Luxor features the oldest illustration of this species.

The Plain Tiger is a medium-sized butterfly with a wingspan of about 7–8 cm. The body is black with many white spots. The wings are tawny the upper side being brighter and richer than the underside. The apical half of the fore wing is black with a white band. The hind wing has 3 black spots around the center. The hind wing has a thin border of black enclosing a series of semicircular white spots.

Background color and extent of white on the forewings varies somewhat across the wide range; see Systematics and taxonomy below.

The male Plain Tiger is smaller than the female, but more brightly colored. In addition, male danaines have a number of secondary sexual characteristics. In the case of the Plain Tiger, these are:

The male has a pouch on the hindwing. This spot is white with a thick black border and bulges slightly. It is a cluster of specialised scent scales used to attract females.

The males possess two brush-like organs which can be pushed out of the tip of the abdomen.

The range of the Plain Tiger extends from Africa and southern Europe, eastwards via Sri Lanka, India, and Myanmar to China and Sulawesi. It is a very common species.

Wingspan: 70 mm

Distribution: China, SE Asia, S Europe, Africa, Australia

It generally stays within the vicinity of its caterpillar host plants, Asclepias curassavica or Calotropis gigantean.

This species generally occurs near its host plants. It has a slow flight and feeds on nectar. It has never been found in colonies of wintering danaids.

The butterfly has a rich fulvous orange forewings with a broad black apical border bearing a series of white spots. It occurs in two forms - form chrysippus which has orange hindwings, and form alcippoides which has white hindwings. Males can be distinguished by an additional brand on the hindwing.