Danaus melanippus

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White Tiger
Danaus melanippus lotis
Danaus melanippus lotis
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Lepidoptera
Superfamily: Papilionoidea
Family: Nymphalidae
Subfamily: Danainae
Tribe: Danaini
Genus: Danaus
Species: D. melanippus
Binomial name
Danaus melanippus
Cramer, 1777

The White Tiger (Danaus melanippus) is a butterfly species found in tropical Asia which belongs to the "Crows and Tigers", that is, the danaine group of the Brush-footed butterflies family.

It ranges from Assam in eastern India[verification needed] through Southeast Asia south to Indonesia, and eastwards to the Philippines and through southern China to Taiwan (Evans 1932, Smith et al. 2005). It has around 15 (13-18, according to author) subspecies, and its closest relative is the Malay Tiger, Danaus affinis (Smith et al. 2005).


[edit] References

  • Evans, W.H. (1932): The Identification of Indian Butterflies (2nd edition). Bombay Natural History Society, Mumbai, India.
  • Gaonkar, Harish (1996): Butterflies of the Western Ghats, India (including Sri Lanka) - A Biodiversity Assessment of a threatened mountain system. Centre for Ecological Sciences, IISc, Bangalore, India & Natural History Museum, London, UK.
  • Gay, Thomas; Kehimkar, Isaac & Punetha, J. C.(1992): Common Butterflies of India. WWF-India and Oxford University Press, Mumbai, India.
  • Haribal, Meena (1994): The Butterflies of Sikkim Himalaya and their Natural History. Sikkim Nature Conservation Foundation, Gangtok, India.
  • Kunte, Krushnamegh (2005): India - A Lifescape: Butterflies of Peninsular India. Universities Press, Hyderabad, India. ISBN 81-7371-354-5
  • Wynter-Blyth, M. A. (1957): Butterflies of the Indian Region. Bombay Natural History Society, Mumbai, India.

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