A few months back, I had planted a Bloodflower(milkweed) plant in the hope of breeding Plain Tiger Butterflies. It was wonderful to watch the metamorphosis. Here are the pictures...
...
The host plant is called bloodflower. The plant belongs to a group known as Milkweeds.
...
...
Mature female plain tigers lay their eggs on these plants...
...
Milkweeds secrete latex which contains chemicals called cardenolides, which are ingested by the larvae as they feed on the plant...
...
The cardenolides are toxic to potential predators (but not the larvae), and can be stored till they mature...
...
Cardenolides had evolved in plants as a defense against herbivores, but some herbivores, including plain tiger larvae, evolved enzymes to become able to process these cardenolides...
...
...
After few days of heavy eating of leaves, the larvae prepare for the Pupa stage...
...It attaches itself to the wall...
...
Some get attached to the ceiling....
...
The pupal stage of the plain tiger lasts about 9 to 15 days, where the caterpillar hardens...
...
...
...
As days pass, the chrysalis becomes brown and the butterfly inside becomes visible...
...
...
I kept monitoring them so that I won't miss the adult butterfly stage. After a wait that was akin to watching paint dry, the butterflies started emerging...
...
...
The crumpled wings..
...
The wings straighten in about 5 minutes. Then it hangs there for about 3 hours....
...
After 3-4 hours it gets ready to fly by flapping its wings...
...
Male and female plain tigers look extremely similar, but males can easily be differentiated from females with the presence of an additional black-and-white spot on its hindwing.
...Adult plain tigers also ingest and store another type of toxic substance called pyrrolizidine alkaloids...
...
These chemicals cause plain tigers to be inedible (usually causing vomiting) to many predators, especially birds. Predators which have suffered the negative effects of eating a plain tiger subsequently learn to avoid eating the same type of butterfly because of its bright, noticeable coloration and pattern...
...
This 'strategy' of using warning colours to ward off predators is also known as aposematism...
Information Source: https://wiki.nus.edu.sg/display/TAX/Danaus+chrysippus+-+Plain+Tiger
