Danaus (genus)

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Danaus
Danaus chrysippus male
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Lepidoptera
Superfamily: Papilionoidea
Family: Nymphalidae
Subfamily: Danainae
Tribe: Danaini
Genus: Danaus
Kluk, 1780
Type species
Papilio plexippus
Linnaeus, 1758
Species

11-12, see text

Danaus is a genus of butterflies in the tiger butterfly tribe. Following the review of Smith et al. (2005), 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:

  • Lesser Wanderer, Danaus petilia
  • Plain Tiger, Danaus chrysippus
  • Dorippus Tiger, Danaus dorippus - formerly included in D. chrysippus
  • Soldier Butterfly or Tropic Queen, Danaus eresimus - includes D. plexaure
  • Queen Butterfly, Danaus gilippus

This genus was formerly split into the subgenera Danaus, Salatura, and Anosia, but this arrangement has been abolished. While the first (the 2-3 monarch butterflies) and Salatura (species ismare, genutia, affinis and melanippus) do indeed seem to be clades, the relationship of these to the other species, especially the puzzling D. dorippus, is less than 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 (Smith et al. 2005). In addition, male-killing Spiroplasma infection has been shown in D. chrysippus and probably also occurs in other species (Jiggins et al. 2000); the consequences for speciation and evolution are probably similar to those observed in infection with male-killing strains of the better-researched Wolbachia.


Tirumala septentrionis



Tirumala limniace





Danaus plexippus



Danaus erippus






Danaus genutia




Danaus melanippus



Danaus affinis





Danaus ismare





Danaus eresimus



Danaus gilippus





Danaus petilia





Danaus dorippus dorippus-2



Danaus d. bataviana





Danaus chrysippus chrysippus



Danaus c. orientis



Danaus c. alcippus






Danaus d. dorippus-1



Phylogeny of the genus (without D. cleophile).[1]


[edit] References

Wikispecies has information related to:
  • Jiggins, F. M.; Hurst, G. D. D.; Jiggins, C. D.; Schulenburg, J. H. G. v. D. & Majerus, M. E. N. (2000): The butterfly Danaus chrysippus is infected by a male-killing Spiroplasma bacterium. Parasitology 120(5): 439–446. doi:10.1017/S0031182099005867 (HTML abstract)
  1. ^ Smith, David A.; Gugs Lushai and John A. Allen (June 2005). "A classification of Danaus butterflies (Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae) based upon data from morphology and DNA" (PDF). Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 144 (2): 191–212. doi:10.1111/j.1096-3642.2005.00169.x. 
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