Danaus erippus, common name southern monarch, is a butterfly belonging to the "Crows and Tigers", that is, the danaine group of the brush-footed butterflies family.

Description

Danaus erippus has a wingspan reaching about 110 millimetres (4.3 in), with an easily recognizable orange and black pattern. Until 2007, this butterfly has been treated as a subspecies of the monarch sister species Danaus plexippus. In effect, they are very similar, but D. erippus usually has an orange trailing edge of the forewings, while in D. plexippus it is black. The colour of the wings in males of the southern monarch is paler than in the females.

Larvae feed on Araujia sericifera, Araujia hortorum, Asclepias curassavica, Asclepias barjoniifolia, Morrenia odorata and Oxypetalum coeruleum.

Similarly to the D. plexippus, D. erippus exhibits migratory behavior. Also, these butterflies fly south in the autumn towards colder latitudes for the wintering.

Distribution

This species can be found in tropical and subtropical latitudes of South America, mainly in Brazil, Uruguay, Paraguay, Argentina, Bolivia, Chile and southern Peru.

References

• Biolib
• Funet
• CRISTINA DOCKX - - MIGRATION OF THE NORTH AMERICAN MONARCH DANAUS PLEXIPPUS TO CUBA