Larval Host Plant

Freyeria putli – Black-spotted Grass Jewel

Nectar Plant

Euploea core – Common Crow
Danaus chrysippus – Plain Tiger
Danaus genutia – Striped Tiger
Parantica aglea – Glassy Tiger
Tirumala limniace – Blue Tiger
Tirumala septentrionis – Dark Blue Tiger

Other notes

Natural History: An aromatic, erect herb found in pantropical moist habitats. Small white flowers borne in clusters at coiled branch ends (Flowers of India, 2022). These plants are rich in pyrrolizidine alkaloids, which attract Tiger-Crow butterflies and some moths too.

References:

WFO (2022): World Flora Online. Accessed on 29 Dec 2022. URL: http://www.worldfloraonline.org/taxon/wfo-0000718658.

Flowers of India (2022). Accessed on 29 Dec 2022. URL: http://www.flowersofindia.net/catalog/slides/Indian%20Heliotrope.html.

Page citation

Kawthankar, N. 2025. Heliotropium indicum L. – Indian Heliotrope. In Kunte, K., S. Sondhi, and P. Roy (Chief Editors). Butterflies of India, v. 4.12. Published by the Indian Foundation for Butterflies. URL: https://www.ifoundbutterflies.org/heliotropium-indicum, accessed 2025/01/12.