#2975 · 🦋 butterflies & moths

Plain Tiger Butterfly

🇳🇱 Kleine monarchvlinder ·Danaus chrysippus

LCleast concern 🦋 Butterflies & moths 📍 in Europe, not in NL

7 photos from iNaturalist (Creative Commons) · credits & licences

what is it?

Danaus chrysippus , also known as the plain tiger or African monarch , is a medium-sized butterfly widespread in Asia and Africa. It belongs to the Danainae subfamily of the brush-footed butterfly family Nymphalidae. Danainae primarily consume plants in the genus Asclepias , more commonly called milkweed. Milkweed contains toxic compounds, cardenolides, which are often consumed and stored by many butterflies. Because of their emetic properties, the plain tiger is unpalatable to most predators. As a result, the species'...

base stats

NL sightings 0iNaturalist, research grade
worldwide 47,344iNaturalist observations
threat LCleast concern

Bars compare against all animals on log scales: up to 300,000 Dutch and 600,000 worldwide sightings (the most-seen species), 150 t (blue whale), 30 m and 400 years (Greenland shark).

fun facts

No confirmed wild sightings in the Netherlands on iNaturalist: you'd have to travel for this one.
47,344 observations worldwide on iNaturalist.
Scientifically named in 1758 (268 years ago).