Plain tiger

Danaus chrysippus
Upperside
Underside
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Lepidoptera
Family:	Nymphalidae
Genus:	Danaus
Species:	D. chrysippus
Binomial name
Danaus chrysippus (Linnaeus, 1758)
Synonyms
Papilio chrysippus Linnaeus, 1758 Danais chrysippus (lapsus) Anosia chrysippus Papilio aegyptius Von Schreber, 1759 Papilio asclepiadis Gagliardi, 1811 Limnas alcippoides Moore, 1883 Danais dorippus ab. albinus Lanz, 1896 Danaida dorippus ab. infumata Aurivillius, 1899 Danaus dorippus ab. transiens Suffert, 1900 Danaus dorippus ab. semialbinus Strand, 1910 Danaus chrysippus ab. praealbata Froreich, 1928 Danaus (Limnas) chrysippus ab. impunctata Dufrane, 1948 Danaus (Limnas) chrysippus ab. bipunctata Dufrane, 1948 Danaus (Limnas) chrysippus ab. duplicata Dufrane, 1948 Danaus (Limnas) chrysippus ab. anomala Dufrane, 1948 Danaus (Limnas) chrysippus ab. reducta Dufrane, 1948 Danaus (Limnas) chrysippus ab. subreducta Dufrane, 1948 Danaus (Limnas) chrysippus ab. completa Dufrane, 1948 Danaus (Limnas) chrysippus ab. duponti Dufrane, 1948 Danaus (Limnas) chrysippus ab. deficiens Dufrane, 1948 Danaus (Limnas) chrysippus ab. radiata Dufrane, 1948 Danaus (Panlymnas) chrysippus liboria f. witteellus Overlaet, 1955 Danaus chrysippus f. hypermnestra Stoneham, 1958 Papilio alcippus Cramer, 1777 Danaida chrysippus ab. chrysippellus Strand, 1909 Danaida chrysippus var. orientis Aurivillius, 1909 Danaus chrysippus liboria Hulstaert, 1931

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 (milkweed butterflies) subfamily of the brush-footed butterfly family, Nymphalidae. Its colouration is mimicked by multiple species.

The plain tiger is believed to be one of the first butterflies to be used in art. A 3500-year-old Egyptian fresco in Luxor features the oldest illustration of this species.

The plain tiger can be considered the archetypal danaine of India. Accordingly, this species has been studied in greater detail than other members of its subfamily occurring in India.

D. chrysippus is a medium-sized butterfly with a wingspan of about 7–8 centimetres (2.8–3.1 in). The body is black with many white spots. The wings are tawny, the upperside brighter and richer than the underside. The apical half of the forewing is black with a white band. The hindwing has three black spots around the center. The hindwing has a thin border of black enclosing a series of semicircular white spots.

Background colour and extent of white on the forewings varies somewhat across the wide range; see Systematics and taxonomy below.

The male plain tiger is smaller than the female, but more brightly coloured. In addition, male danaines have a number of secondary sexual characteristics. In the case of the plain tiger, these are:

The range of the plain tiger extends from Africa and southern Europe, eastwards via Sri Lanka, India, and Myanmar to China, Java and Sulawesi. It is a very common species.

Despite the external similarity, the common tiger (D. genutia) is not closely related to this species. Three subspecies were considered valid in a 2005 review:

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