Danaus (butterfly)


Danaus, commonly called tigers, milkweeds, monarchs, wanderers, and queens, is a genus of butterflies in the tiger butterfly tribe. They are found worldwide, including North America, South America, Africa, Asia, Indonesia and Australia. For other tigers see the genus, Parantica.

Taxonomy

Following the review of Smith et al., 12 species are provisionally accepted based on morphological, mtDNA 12S rRNA and cytochrome c oxidase subunit I, and nuclear DNA 18S rRNA and EF1 subunit α sequence data:
ButterflyCaterpillarNameCommon nameDistribution
Danaus affinis Malay tigerfrom Thailand to the Philippines and southwards through Indonesia to Melanesia and northeastern Australia
Danaus chrysippus plain tiger, common tiger, African monarch, lesser wanderer, or African queenAsia, Australia and Africa
Danaus cleophile Jamaican monarchDominican Republic, Haiti, and Jamaica.
Danaus dorippus dorippus tiger eastern and southern Africa and sporadically in India
Danaus eresimus soldier or tropical queen, includes D. plexaureAmerica: southern Florida, southern Texas, Mexico, the Caribbean, Central America and South America.
Danaus erippus southern monarchSouth America, mainly in Brazil, Uruguay, Paraguay, Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, and southern Peru.
Danaus genutia common tiger, Indian monarch, or orange tigerSri Lanka, Myanmar and extending to South-East Asia and Australia.
Danaus gilippus queenAmerica: from central United States to Argentina
Danaus ismare Ismare tigerSouth East Asia
Danaus melanippus white tiger, common tiger, or eastern common tigerAsia: Assam in eastern India through South-East Asia south to Indonesia, and eastwards to the Philippines and through southern China to Taiwan.
Danaus petilia lesser wandererAustralia
Danaus plexippus monarch or wandererfrom southern Canada through northern South America. Bermuda, Cook Islands, Hawaii, Cuba, and other Caribbean islands, the Solomons, New Caledonia, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Australia, the Azores, the Canary Islands, Gibraltar, the Philippines, and North Africa.

This genus was formerly split into the subgenera Danaus, Salatura, and Anosia, but this arrangement has been abolished. While the first and Salatura do indeed seem to be clades, the relationship of these to the other species, especially the puzzling D. dorippus, is not clear.
Hybridization producing fertile offspring is known to occur between some species, confounding mtDNA data; this seems to be especially true in the case of D. dorippus. In addition, male-killing Spiroplasma infection has been shown in D. chrysippus and probably also occurs in other species ; the consequences for speciation and evolution are probably similar to those observed in infection with male-killing strains of the better-researched Wolbachia bacteria.

Phylogeny

Phylogeny of the genus.

Synonyms of ''Danaus'' species and subspecies

Tribe Danaini Boisduval, 1833