''Danaus chrysippus'', also known as the plain tiger, African queen, or African monarch, is a medium-sized

butterfly Butterflies are winged insects from the lepidopteran superfamily Papilionoidea, characterized by large, often brightly coloured wings that often fold together when at rest, and a conspicuous, fluttering flight. The oldest butterfly fossi ...

widespread in

Asia Asia ( , ) is the largest continent in the world by both land area and population. It covers an area of more than 44 million square kilometres, about 30% of Earth's total land area and 8% of Earth's total surface area. The continent, which ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

and

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent after Asia. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 20% of Earth's land area and 6% of its total surfac ...

. It belongs to the

Danainae Danainae is a subfamily of the family Nymphalidae, the brush-footed butterflies. The group may be referred to as the Danaids (reflecting their previous rank as a family) or milkweed butterflies, as they often lay their eggs on various milkweed ...

subfamily In biological classification, a subfamily (Latin: ', plural ') is an auxiliary (intermediate) taxonomic rank, next below family but more inclusive than genus. Standard nomenclature rules end botanical subfamily names with "-oideae", and zo ...

of the brush-footed butterfly

family Family (from ) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictabili ...

Nymphalidae The Nymphalidae are the largest family of butterflies, with more than 6,000 species distributed throughout most of the world. Belonging to the superfamily Papilionoidea, they are usually medium-sized to large butterflies. Most species ha ...

. Danainae primarily consume plants in the genus ''

Asclepias ''Asclepias'' is a genus of herbaceous, perennial, flowering plants known as milkweeds, named for their latex, a milky substance containing cardiac glycosides termed cardenolides, exuded where cells are damaged. Most species are toxic to huma ...

'', more commonly called milkweed. Milkweed contains toxic compounds,

cardenolide A cardenolide is a type of steroid. Many plants contain derivatives, collectively known as cardenolides, including many in the form of cardenolide glycosides (cardenolides that contain structural groups derived from sugars). Cardenolide glycoside ...

s, which are often consumed and stored by many butterflies. Because of their

emetic Vomiting (also known as emesis, puking and throwing up) is the forceful expulsion of the contents of one's stomach through the mouth and sometimes the nose. Vomiting can be the result of ailments like food poisoning, gastroenteritis, preg ...

properties, the plain tiger is

unpalatable Palatability (or palatableness) is the hedonic reward (which is pleasure of taste in this case) provided by foods or drinks that are agreeable to the "palate", which often varies relative to the homeostatic satisfaction of nutritional and/or wate ...

to most predators. As a result, its colouration is widely

mimicked In evolutionary biology, mimicry is an evolved resemblance between an organism and another object, often an organism of another species. Mimicry may evolve between different species, or between individuals of the same species. In the simples ...

by other

species A species () is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. It is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), ...

butterflies Butterflies are winged insects from the lepidopteran superfamily Papilionoidea, characterized by large, often brightly coloured wings that often fold together when at rest, and a conspicuous, fluttering flight. The oldest butterfly fossi ...

. The plain tiger inhabits a wide variety of

habitat In ecology, habitat refers to the array of resources, biotic factors that are present in an area, such as to support the survival and reproduction of a particular species. A species' habitat can be seen as the physical manifestation of its ...

s, although it is less likely to thrive in

jungle jungle is land covered with dense forest and tangled vegetation, usually in tropical climates. Application of the term has varied greatly during the past century. Etymology The word ''jungle'' originates from the Sanskrit word ''jaṅgala'' ...

-like conditions and is most often found in drier, wide-open areas. ''D. chrysippus'' encompasses three main

subspecies In Taxonomy (biology), biological classification, subspecies (: subspecies) is a rank below species, used for populations that live in different areas and vary in size, shape, or other physical characteristics (Morphology (biology), morpholog ...

: ''D. c. alcippus, D. c. chrysippus,'' and ''D. c. orientis.'' These subspecies are found concentrated in specific regions within the larger range of the entire species. The plain tiger is believed to be one of the first butterflies depicted in art. A 3,500-year-old

ancient Ancient history is a time period from the beginning of writing and recorded human history through late antiquity. The span of recorded history is roughly 5,000 years, beginning with the development of Sumerian cuneiform script. Ancient h ...

Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...

ian

fresco Fresco ( or frescoes) is a technique of mural painting executed upon freshly laid ("wet") lime plaster. Water is used as the vehicle for the dry-powder pigment to merge with the plaster, and with the setting of the plaster, the painting become ...

Luxor Luxor is a city in Upper Egypt. Luxor had a population of 263,109 in 2020, with an area of approximately and is the capital of the Luxor Governorate. It is among the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest continuously inhabited c ...

features the oldest known illustration of this species.

Description

''D. chrysippus'' is a medium-sized

with a

wingspan The wingspan (or just span) of a bird or an airplane is the distance from one wingtip to the opposite wingtip. For example, the Boeing 777–200 has a wingspan of , and a wandering albatross (''Diomedea exulans'') caught in 1965 had a wingsp ...

of about . The body is black with white spots. The wings are a brownish orange, the upper side brighter and richer than the underside. The apical half of the forewing is black with a white band. The hindwing has three black spots in the centre. The wings are bordered in black and outlined with semicircular white spots. This species exhibits slight sexual dimorphism, as the male has large scent glands on his hindwings, which the female lacks. They appear as a large black spot with a white centre if viewed from the underside ''D. chrysippus'' is a polymorphic species, so the exact colouring and patterning vary within and between

population Population is a set of humans or other organisms in a given region or area. Governments conduct a census to quantify the resident population size within a given jurisdiction. The term is also applied to non-human animals, microorganisms, and pl ...

s. It is similar in appearance to the

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

n fritillary (''

Argynnis hyperbius The Indian fritillary (''Argynnis hyperbius'') is a species of butterfly of the Nymphalidae, nymphalid or brush-footed family. It is usually found from south and southeast Asia to Australia. Description Male: Upperside: forewing rich orange ye ...

''), which may coexist with it. File:Plain tiger butterfly wing scales.jpg, Close-up of the wing scales of a male ''Danaus chrysippus'' File:Danaus chrysippus male 2 by kadavoor.jpg, Male showing the pheromone pouch and brush-like organ in Kerala

Geographic range

The plain tiger is found across the entirety of Africa, where the predominant subspecies is ''D. c. alcippus''. Its range extends across the majority of Asia throughout

Indian subcontinent The Indian subcontinent is a physiographic region of Asia below the Himalayas which projects into the Indian Ocean between the Bay of Bengal to the east and the Arabian Sea to the west. It is now divided between Bangladesh, India, and Pakista ...

, as well as many south

Pacific The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean, or, depending on the definition, to Antarctica in the south, and is bounded by the cont ...

islands. The plain tiger is even present in parts of

. ''D. c. chrysippus'' is most common throughout Asia and in some select regions in Africa, while ''D. c. orientis'' is present in more

tropical The tropics are the regions of Earth surrounding the equator, where the sun may shine directly overhead. This contrasts with the temperate or polar regions of Earth, where the Sun can never be directly overhead. This is because of Earth's ax ...

African regions as well as some African islands, including

Madagascar Madagascar, officially the Republic of Madagascar, is an island country that includes the island of Madagascar and numerous smaller peripheral islands. Lying off the southeastern coast of Africa, it is the world's List of islands by area, f ...

and

the Seychelles Seychelles (, ; ), officially the Republic of Seychelles (; Seychellois Creole: ), is an island country and archipelagic state consisting of 155 islands (as per the Constitution) in the Indian Ocean. Its capital and largest city, Victoria, ...

. It is also found in Southern Europe and Kuwait. These insects are considered bioinvaders in North America.

Habitat

The plain tiger prefers

arid Aridity is the condition of geographical regions which make up approximately 43% of total global available land area, characterized by low annual precipitation, increased temperatures, and limited water availability.Perez-Aguilar, L. Y., Plata ...

, open areas, and is found in a variety of habitats, including

desert A desert is a landscape where little precipitation occurs and, consequently, living conditions create unique biomes and ecosystems. The lack of vegetation exposes the unprotected surface of the ground to denudation. About one-third of the la ...

mountain A mountain is an elevated portion of the Earth's crust, generally with steep sides that show significant exposed bedrock. Although definitions vary, a mountain may differ from a plateau in having a limited summit area, and is usually higher t ...

deciduous In the fields of horticulture and botany, the term deciduous () means "falling off at maturity" and "tending to fall off", in reference to trees and shrubs that seasonally shed Leaf, leaves, usually in the autumn; to the shedding of petals, aft ...

forests, and human-tended

garden A garden is a planned space, usually outdoors, set aside for the cultivation, display, and enjoyment of plants and other forms of nature. The single feature identifying even the wildest wild garden is ''control''. The garden can incorporate bot ...

s in cities and parks. It is comfortable at altitudes ranging from sea level to around .

Food resources

Larval food plants

The plain tiger's larval host plants are from several families, most importantly

Asclepiadoideae The Asclepiadoideae are a subfamily of plants in the family Apocynaceae. Formerly, it was treated as a separate family under the name Asclepiadaceae, e.g. by APG II, and known as the milkweed family. They form a group of perennial herbs, twinin ...

(

Apocynaceae Apocynaceae (, from '' Apocynum'', Greek for "dog-away") is a family of flowering plants that includes trees, shrubs, herbs, stem succulents, and vines, commonly known as the dogbane family, because some taxa were used as dog poison. Notable mem ...

): * ''

Apteranthes burchardii ''Apteranthes burchardii'' is a fleshy and superficially cactus-like plant that belongs to the genus ''Apteranthes'' in the subfamily Asclepiadoideae of the family Apocynaceae. Its basionym is ''Caralluma burchardii''. This species is native to ...

'' (recorded from Canary Islands/Spain) * ''

'' – milkweeds (recorded on ''A. cancellata'', ''A. coarctata'', '' A. curassavica'', ''A. fulva'', ''A. kaessneri'', ''A. lineolata'', ''A. reflexa'', ''A. scabrifolia'', ''A. semilunata'', ''A. stenophylla'', ''A. swynnertonii'', '' A. syriaca'') * ''Aspidoglossum interruptum'' * ''

Calotropis ''Calotropis'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Apocynaceae, first described as a genus in 1810. It is native to southern Asia and North Africa. They are commonly known as milkweeds because of the latex they produce. ''Calotropis'' ...

'' – mudar (recorded on '' C. gigantea'', '' C. procera'') * '' Ceropegia dichotoma'' (recorded from Canary Islands/Spain) * ''

Cryptolepis dubia ''Cryptolepis dubia'' is a species of flowering plant in the family Apocynaceae Apocynaceae (, from '' Apocynum'', Greek for "dog-away") is a family of flowering plants that includes trees, shrubs, herbs, stem succulents, and vines, commonly ...

'' * ''

Cynanchum ''Cynanchum'' is a genus of about 300 species including some swallowworts, belonging to the family Apocynaceae. The taxon name comes from Greek ''kynos'' (meaning "dog") and ''anchein'' ("to choke"), hence the common name for several species is ...

'' (recorded on ''C. abyssinicum'', '' C. acutum'', ''C. altiscandens'', ''C. amplexicaule'', ''C. carnosum'', ''C. floribundum'', '' C. pulchellum'', ''C. rostellatum'', ''C. sublanceolatum'') * ''

Gomphocarpus ''Gomphocarpus'' is a genus of plants in the family Apocynaceae first described as a genus in 1810. It is in the milkweed subfamily Asclepiadoideae, and its members are considered milkweeds. It is widespread across much of Africa, with a few spe ...

'' (recorded on ''G. fruticosus'', ''G. physocarpus'') * ''Kanahia laniflora'' * ''

Leichhardtia australis ''Leichhardtia australis'', commonly known as the bush banana, silky pear or green vine is an Australia, Australian native plant. It is found in Central Australia and throughout Western Australia. It is a bush tucker food used by Indigenous Aust ...

'' * ''Leptadenia lanceolata'' * ''

Orbea variegata ''Orbea variegata'', also known as the star flower, carrion flower, starfish cactus and toad cactus, is a species of flowering plant in the family Apocynaceae that is native to the coastal belt of the Western Cape, South Africa, growing actively ...

'' (recorded from Canary Islands/Spain) * '' Pentatropis'' (recorded on ''P. atropurpurea'', ''P. quinquepartita'') * ''

Pergularia daemia ''Pergularia daemia'', the trellis-vine, is a hispid, perennial vine in the family Asclepiadaceae, with an extensive range in the Old World tropics and subtropics. It has been used traditionally to treat a number of ailments. It is sometimes call ...

'' * ''Periploca linearifolia'' * ''

Secamone ''Secamone'' is a genus of plant in family Apocynaceae, first described as a genus in 1810. It is widespread across much of Africa, northern Australia, southern Asia, with numerous species endemic to Madagascar Madagascar, officially the ...

'' (recorded on ''S. afzelii'', ''S. parvifolia'', ''S. platystigma'') * ''

Stapelia gigantea ''Stapelia gigantea'' is a species of flowering plant in the genus '' Stapelia'' of the family Apocynaceae. Common names include Zulu giant, carrion plant and toad plant (although the nickname "carrion plant" can also refer to '' Stapelia grandif ...

'' * '' Stathmostelma'' (recorded on ''S. gigantiflorum'', ''S. pedunculatum'') * ''

Vincetoxicum ''Vincetoxicum'' is a genus of plants in the family Apocynaceae. Although the species in ''Vincetoxicum'' have sometimes been included in '' Cynanchum'', chemical and molecular evidence shows that ''Vincetoxicum'' is more closely related to ''Tyl ...

'' (recorded on ''V. cernuum'', ''V. sylvaticum'', ''V. tanakae,'') Host plants from other families include ''Dyerophytum indicum'' (

Plumbaginaceae Plumbaginaceae is a family (biology), family of flowering plants, with a cosmopolitan distribution. The family is sometimes referred to as the leadwort family or the plumbago family. Most species in this family are perennial plant, perennial h ...

), ''

Ficus ''Ficus'' ( or ) is a genus of about 850 species of woody trees, shrubs, vines, epiphytes and hemiepiphytes in the family (biology), family Moraceae. Collectively known as fig trees or figs, they are native throughout the tropics with a few spe ...

'' (

Moraceae Moraceae is a family of flowering plants comprising about 48 genera and over 1100 species, and is commonly known as the mulberry or fig family. Most are widespread in tropical and subtropical regions, less so in temperate climates; however, their ...

; recorded on ''F. laevis'', '' F. racemosa''), ''

Ipomoea ''Ipomoea'' () is the largest genus in the plant family Convolvulaceae, with over 600 species. It is a large and diverse group, with common names including morning glory, Ipomoea aquatica, water convolvulus or water spinach, sweet potato, ...

'' (

Convolvulaceae Convolvulaceae (), commonly called the bindweed, bindweeds or morning glory, morning glories, is a Family (biology), family of about 60 genera and more than 1,650 species. These species are primarily herbaceous vines, but also include trees, sh ...

; recorded on '' I. alba'', '' I. bona-nox''), ''Lepisanthes rubiginosa'' (

Sapindaceae The Sapindaceae are a family (biology), family of flowering plants in the order Sapindales known as the soapberry family. It contains 138 genera and 1,858 accepted species. Examples include Aesculus, horse chestnut, maples, ackee and lychee. The ...

) as well as some

Euphorbiaceae Euphorbiaceae (), the spurge family, is a large family of flowering plants. In English, they are also commonly called euphorbias, which is also the name of Euphorbia, the type genus of the family. Most spurges, such as ''Euphorbia paralias'', ar ...

Malvaceae Malvaceae (), or the mallows, is a family of flowering plants estimated to contain 244 genera with 4225 known species. Well-known members of economic importance include Theobroma cacao, cacao, Cola (plant), cola, cotton, okra, Hibiscus sabdariffa, ...

Poaceae Poaceae ( ), also called Gramineae ( ), is a large and nearly ubiquitous family of monocotyledonous flowering plants commonly known as grasses. It includes the cereal grasses, bamboos, the grasses of natural grassland and species cultivate ...

Rosaceae Rosaceae (), the rose family, is a family of flowering plants that includes 4,828 known species in 91 genera. The name is derived from the type genus '' Rosa''. The family includes herbs, shrubs, and trees. Most species are deciduous, but som ...

and

Scrophulariaceae The Scrophulariaceae are a family of flowering plants, commonly known as the figwort family. The plants are annual and perennial herbs, as well as shrubs. Flowers have bilateral (zygomorphic) or rarely radial (actinomorphic) symmetry. The Scr ...

Adult food plants

Adult plain tiger butterflies obtain

nectar Nectar is a viscous, sugar-rich liquid produced by Plant, plants in glands called nectaries, either within the flowers with which it attracts pollination, pollinating animals, or by extrafloral nectaries, which provide a nutrient source to an ...

from various

flowering plant Flowering plants are plants that bear flowers and fruits, and form the clade Angiospermae (). The term angiosperm is derived from the Ancient Greek, Greek words (; 'container, vessel') and (; 'seed'), meaning that the seeds are enclosed with ...

s. The particular plants available vary depending on the geographic range of the butterfly population and the season, as certain plants do not flower throughout the entire year.

India

* ''

Antigonon leptopus ''Antigonon leptopus'' is a species of perennial vine in the buckwheat family commonly known as coral vine or queen's wreath. This clambering vine is characterized by showy, usually pink flowers that can bloom throughout the year and large, hear ...

'', January through April and August through December * '' Asystasia gangetica'' * ''

Catharanthus roseus ''Catharanthus roseus'', commonly known as bright eyes, Cape periwinkle, graveyard plant, Madagascar periwinkle, old maid, pink periwinkle, rose periwinkle, is a perennial species of flowering plant in the family Apocynaceae. It is native and en ...

'' * ''

Cyanthillium cinereum ''Cyanthillium cinereum'' (also known as little ironweed and ''poovamkurunnal'' or ''poovamkurunnila'' in Malayalam, and ''monara kudumbiya'' in Sinhalese) is a species of perennial plants in the sunflower family. The species is native to tropic ...

'' * ''

Heliotropium indicum ''Heliotropium indicum'', commonly known as Indian heliotrope, Indian turnsole is an annual, hirsute plant that is a common weed in waste places and settled areas. It is native to Asia. It is widely used in native medicine in Tamil Nadu, India. ...

'' * ''

Lantana camara ''Lantana camara'' (common lantana) is a species of flowering plant in the verbena family (Verbenaceae), native to the American tropics. It is a very adaptable species, which can inhabit a wide variety of ecosystems; once it has been introduced i ...

'' * ''

Tecoma stans ''Tecoma stans'' is a species of flowering perennial shrub in the trumpet vine family, Bignoniaceae, that is native to the Americas. Common names include yellow trumpetbush, yellow bells, yellow elder, ginger Thomas. ''Tecoma stans'' is the o ...

'', May through December * ''

Tridax procumbens ''Tridax procumbens'', commonly known as coatbuttons or tridax daisy, is a species of flowering plant in the family Asteraceae. It is best known as a widespread noxious weed, weed and pest plant. It is native to the tropical Americas including M ...

Australia

* ''

'' * ''

Daviesia ''Daviesia'', commonly known as bitter peas, is a genus of about 130 species of flowering plants in the family Fabaceae, and is endemic to Australia. Plants in the genus ''Daviesia'' are shrubs or small trees with leaves modified as phyllodes or ...

'' * '' Eucalyptus conglobata'' * '' E. oleosa'' * '' Goodenia maideniana'' * ''

Lantana ''Lantana'' () is a genus of about 150 species of perennial plant, perennial flowering plants in the verbena family, Verbenaceae. They are native to tropics, tropical regions of the Americas and Africa but exist as an introduced species in num ...

'' * ''

Leucopogon ''Leucopogon'' is a genus of about 150-160 species of shrubs or small trees in the family Ericaceae, in the section of that family formerly treated as the separate family Epacridaceae. They are native to Australia, New Zealand, New Caledonia, the ...

'' * '' Ptilotis obovatus'' In addition to nectar, adult plain tigers obtain

pyrrolizidine alkaloid Pyrrolizidine alkaloids (PAs), sometimes referred to as necine bases, are a group of naturally occurring alkaloids based on the structure of pyrrolizidine. Their use dates back centuries and is intertwined with the discovery, understanding, and e ...

s from the dead stems of different plant types. In Australia, the following plants have been identified as sources of pyrrolizidine alkaloids for ''D. chrysippus:'' * '' Echium plantogineum'' * ''

Heliotropium amplexicaule ''Heliotropium amplexicaule'' is a species of heliotrope known by several common names, including clasping heliotrope, blue heliotrope, and summer heliotrope. It is native to South America, especially Argentina, but it is known on several other ...

'' * '' Parsonsia eucalyptophylla'' * '' P. straminea'' * ''Senecio pterophorus''

Reproduction

Oviposition

Females lay eggs singly on the underside of the leaves of a larval food plant. The eggs are most often laid close to the ground.

Life history

Egg

The egg of the plain tiger is about long and across. When first laid it is white, but gradually turns brown over time. The egg is ridged and dome-shaped. Depending on temperature, the egg is typically hatched in 3–5 days. File:Plain tiger butterfly egg.jpg, Egg at

Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is the southernmost States and union territories of India, state of India. The List of states and union territories of India by area, tenth largest Indian state by area and the List of states and union territories of Indi ...

, India File:Plain tiger egg.JPG, At Mananpur,

Mumbai Mumbai ( ; ), also known as Bombay ( ; its official name until 1995), is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra. Mumbai is the financial capital and the most populous city proper of India with an estimated population of 12 ...

Maharashtra Maharashtra () is a state in the western peninsular region of India occupying a substantial portion of the Deccan Plateau. It is bordered by the Arabian Sea to the west, the Indian states of Karnataka and Goa to the south, Telangana to th ...

Caterpillar

The

larva A larva (; : larvae ) is a distinct juvenile form many animals undergo before metamorphosis into their next life stage. Animals with indirect development such as insects, some arachnids, amphibians, or cnidarians typically have a larval phase ...

e of ''D. chrysippus'' proceeds through five

instar An instar (, from the Latin '' īnstar'' 'form, likeness') is a developmental stage of arthropods, such as insects, which occurs between each moult (''ecdysis'') until sexual maturity is reached. Arthropods must shed the exoskeleton in order to ...

stages. The first instar is about long, and its body is white while the head is black. The second instar is about long, and its body is primarily gray with yellow and black horizontal stripes. This colouration remains for the final three instar stages. The third instar is about long, the fourth about long, and the fifth about long. Depending on temperature, the larval stage can last from 12 to 20 days. File:Plain tiger larvae just hatched and eat its own eggshell..JPG, Larva eating its own eggshell File:Plain tiger moat.JPG, Caterpillar making "

moat A moat is a deep, broad ditch dug around a castle, fortification, building, or town, historically to provide it with a preliminary line of defence. Moats can be dry or filled with water. In some places, moats evolved into more extensive water d ...

" to feed during the first instar File:Danaus chrysippus second instar.JPG, Second instar File:Plain Tiger Danaus chrysippus Caterpillar on Calotropis procera 2. by Dr. Raju Kasambe.jpg, Mature caterpillar File:Plain Tiger (Danaus chrysippus) caterpillar on a Calotropis (Milkweed) species in Hyderabad, AP W IMG 7970.jpg, Older caterpillar

Prepupal and pupal stages

Before

pupa A pupa (; : pupae) is the life stage of some insects undergoing transformation between immature and mature stages. Insects that go through a pupal stage are holometabolous: they go through four distinct stages in their life cycle, the stages th ...

tion, the caterpillar will become motionless and cease feeding. Its colour shifts slightly from gray to brown, and it may lose a small amount of body mass. The prepupal stage lasts 1–3 days depending on temperature. The pupal stage lasts 9–15 days depending on temperature, and the pupa changes colour over this period from a pale green to dark brown. Pupae are about tall and wide. File:Chrysalide Danaus chrysippus.jpg, Pupa File:Plain tiger pupa.jpg, Fresh pupa at

Bandra Kurla Complex The Bandra Kurla Complex is the central business district of the city of Mumbai, the financial capital of India. It is a prominent upscale hub and is considered to be one of the most expensive neighbourhoods in the world. According t ...

, Mumbai File:Danauschrysippus pupa sec.jpg, Pink pupa due to pupation among inanimate objects

Adult

Male and female ''D. chrysippus'' butterflies look very similar and are also similar in size. Adult butterflies typically have a wingspan of . The bodies of adult plain tigers are about long, and their antennae are about long. Depending on temperature, males live about 10–15 days and females live about 7–12 days. File:Newly emerged Plain tiger female.JPG, A newly emerged plain tiger female in captivity File:Plain tiger m up.JPG, Male ''D. c. chrysippus'', recently emerged from chrysalis File:Plain tiger form Alcipoides from Karanji lake Mysore IMG 7834.jpg, Form ''alcippoides'' in

Mysore Mysore ( ), officially Mysuru (), is a city in the southern Indian state of Karnataka. It is the headquarters of Mysore district and Mysore division. As the traditional seat of the Wadiyar dynasty, the city functioned as the capital of the ...

Karnataka Karnataka ( ) is a States and union territories of India, state in the southwestern region of India. It was Unification of Karnataka, formed as Mysore State on 1 November 1956, with the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, 1956, States Re ...

, India File:Plain Tiger (Danaus chrysippus)- mud-puddling in Hyderabad, AP W IMG 9741.jpg, Mud-puddling File:Plain Tiger (Danaus chrysippus), Bangalore, India.jpg, Resting with its wings closed File:Danaus chrysippus02.jpg, Basking

Enemies

Predators

Egg and larval predators

Most predators of the early developmental stages of ''D. chrysippus'' are

arthropod Arthropods ( ) are invertebrates in the phylum Arthropoda. They possess an arthropod exoskeleton, exoskeleton with a cuticle made of chitin, often Mineralization (biology), mineralised with calcium carbonate, a body with differentiated (Metam ...

s. Such potential predators include various kinds of

spider Spiders (order (biology), order Araneae) are air-breathing arthropods that have eight limbs, chelicerae with fangs generally able to inject venom, and spinnerets that extrude spider silk, silk. They are the largest order of arachnids and ran ...

assassin bugs The Reduviidae is a large cosmopolitan family of the suborder Heteroptera of the order Hemiptera (true bugs). Among the Hemiptera and together with the Nabidae almost all species are terrestrial ambush predators; most other predatory Hemiptera ar ...

cockroach Cockroaches (or roaches) are insects belonging to the Order (biology), order Blattodea (Blattaria). About 30 cockroach species out of 4,600 are associated with human habitats. Some species are well-known Pest (organism), pests. Modern cockro ...

es,

ladybugs Coccinellidae () is a widespread family of small beetles. They are commonly known as ladybugs in North America and ladybirds in the United Kingdom; "lady" refers to mother Mary. Entomologists use the names ladybird beetles or lady beetles ...

ant Ants are Eusociality, eusocial insects of the Family (biology), family Formicidae and, along with the related wasps and bees, belong to the Taxonomy (biology), order Hymenoptera. Ants evolved from Vespoidea, vespoid wasp ancestors in the Cre ...

s, and

mantises Mantises are an order (Mantodea) of insects that contains over 2,400 species in about 460 genera in 33 families. The largest family is the Mantidae ("mantids"). Mantises are distributed worldwide in temperate a ...

. The caterpillars will even cannibalise each other. Egg and larval mortality is often high; as many as 84% of eggs may be lost to predation and up to 97% of larvae can be lost by the fifth instar, although most larval deaths occur during the third instar.

Adult predators

The most common predators of adult plain tigers are

bird Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class (biology), class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the Oviparity, laying of Eggshell, hard-shelled eggs, a high Metabolism, metabolic rate, a fou ...

s. In eastern Africa, the most common predator is the fiscal shrike ''L. c. humeralis''.

Parasites

There are several

organism An organism is any life, living thing that functions as an individual. Such a definition raises more problems than it solves, not least because the concept of an individual is also difficult. Many criteria, few of them widely accepted, have be ...

s which

parasitise Parasitism is a close relationship between species, where one organism, the parasite, lives (at least some of the time) on or inside another organism, the host, causing it some harm, and is adapted structurally to this way of life. The ent ...

the larvae of ''D. chrysippus''. The fly ''S. flavohalterata'' of the

Family Family (from ) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictabili ...

Tachinidae The Tachinidae are a large and variable family of true fly, flies within the insect order Fly, Diptera, with more than 8,200 known species and many more to be discovered. Over 1,300 species have been described in North America alone. Insects in t ...

'' is responsible for small amounts of parasitisation in ''D. chrysippus'' populations. It is unclear whether the fly oviposits on the eggs of ''D. chrysippus'' or whether the fly oviposits on leaves which are then consumed by ''D. chrysippus'' larvae. ''S. flavohalterata'' does not kill the larvae, and development is normal until the pupal stage, when larvae dies and the parasite emerges from the pupa instead. ''A. chrysippi'', a parasitic

wasp A wasp is any insect of the narrow-waisted suborder Apocrita of the order Hymenoptera which is neither a bee nor an ant; this excludes the broad-waisted sawflies (Symphyta), which look somewhat like wasps, but are in a separate suborder ...

of the

Braconidae The Braconidae are a family of parasitoid wasps. After the closely related Ichneumonidae, braconids make up the second-largest family in the order Hymenoptera, with about 17,000 recognized species and many thousands more undescribed. One analysis ...

, oviposits on larvae early in their development and then kills them in the later stages. As many as fifty wasps may emerge from one large caterpillar, and they then pupate on the deceased host. Parasitic wasps of the genus ''Charops'' also infest plain tiger

s, likely during the egg or first instar stage, and then kill the larvae in a later instar stage. ''Sturmia convergens'' is also a parasitoid of ''D. chrysippus.''

Diseases

The plain tiger is infected by a male-killing

bacterium Bacteria (; : bacterium) are ubiquitous, mostly free-living organisms often consisting of one biological cell. They constitute a large domain of prokaryotic microorganisms. Typically a few micrometres in length, bacteria were among the ...

called ''

Spiroplasma ''Spiroplasma'' is a genus of Mollicutes, a group of small bacteria without cell walls. ''Spiroplasma'' shares the simple metabolism, parasitic lifestyle, fried-egg colony morphology and small genome of other ''Mollicutes'', but has a distinctive ...

''. Male-killing bacteria are transmitted vertically, from mother to offspring. Female plain tigers infected with ''Spiroplasma'' will produce all-female broods, because the bacteria kills infected male offspring during either their

embryo An embryo ( ) is the initial stage of development for a multicellular organism. In organisms that reproduce sexually, embryonic development is the part of the life cycle that begins just after fertilization of the female egg cell by the male sp ...

nic or first larval

stage. Although male-killing bacteria are uncommon in species which lay eggs singly. Experimentally treating infected females with

antibiotics An antibiotic is a type of antimicrobial substance active against bacteria. It is the most important type of antibacterial agent for fighting pathogenic bacteria, bacterial infections, and antibiotic medications are widely used in the therapy ...

restored an even

sex ratio A sex ratio is the ratio of males to females in a population. As explained by Fisher's principle, for evolutionary reasons this is typically about 1:1 in species which reproduce sexually. However, many species deviate from an even sex ratio, ei ...

to their subsequent broods, thus indicating that it is indeed ''Spiroplasma'' which is responsible for all-female broods in ''D. chrysippus''. However, the

prevalence In epidemiology, prevalence is the proportion of a particular population found to be affected by a medical condition (typically a disease or a risk factor such as smoking or seatbelt use) at a specific time. It is derived by comparing the number o ...

of this bacteria in the plain tiger seems to be restricted to east African populations.

Protective coloration and behavior

The plain tiger is

by several species due to its unpalatability to potential predators. Previously, it was thought that

s obtained from food sources during the larval stage were responsible for the aversive nature of adult ''D. chrysippus'', but many larval food sources lack cardenolides, and some adult West African populations of ''D. chrysippus'' do not store cardenolides well, yet still repel predators. More recently,

s have been proposed to be responsible for the unpalatability of ''D. chrysippus''. Adult male danaines often feed on plants containing pyrrolizidine alkaloids, and although females rarely do, they may be protected simply through their resemblance to males of the same species. The ability of ''D. chrysippus'' to store cardenolides varies across populations, so likely both cardenolides and pyrrolizidine alkaloids contribute to the unpalatability of ''D. chrysippus'' to different extents depending on the population. Because the plain tiger is

(also called

inedible {{Short pages monitor