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Danaini Boisduval 1833

Milkweed Butterflies

Niklas Wahlberg and Andrew V. Z. Brower
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taxon links [up-->]Lycorea [up-->]Euploea [up-->]Tirumala [up-->]Protoploea [up-->]Parantica [up-->]Tiradelphe [up-->]Ideopsis [up-->]Amauris [up-->]Anetia [up-->]Danaus [up-->]Idea [up-->]Miriamica [up-->]Archaeolycorea ferreirai extinct icon Phylogenetic position of group is uncertain[down<--]Danainae Interpreting the tree
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Containing group: Danainae

Introduction

The Danaini (milkweed butterflies) are a pantropical group with their main area of diversification in southeast Asia and Australasia. One of the world's most familiar and widespread butterfly species, the monarch (Danaus plexippus), is a member of this clade. Virtually all species of danaines are aposematically-colored and are mimicked by other danaines as well as a wide range of palatable Batesian mimics in Nymphalidae, Pieridae and Papilionidae.

Characteristics

Adult male Danaini have eversible abdominal androconial structures called hairpencils that are a uniquely-derived synapomorphy among butterflies. Larvae are usually aposematic, and possess fleshy tubercles on at least the second and eleventh segments. All danaines sequester compounds from their larval host plants (cardenolides and pyrrolizidine alkaloids) that make them distasteful to predators.

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Larva of Danaus chrysippus, Nigeria: Port Harcourt. © 2009 Dirk Motshagen

Discussion of Phylogenetic Relationships

The tree is based upon the morphological cladistic analysis of Ackery & Vane-Wright (1984) and largely corroborated by molecular data (Brower & Wahlberg unpubl.)

Other Names for Danaini Boisduval 1833

References

Ackery PR, and Vane-Wright RI. 1984. Milkweed butterflies. British Museum (Natural History), London.

Vane-Wright RI, Boppré M, and Ackery PR. 2002. Miriamica, a new genus of milkweed butterflies with unique androconial organs (Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae). Zoologischer Anzeiger 241: 255-267.

Title Illustrations
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Scientific Name Euploea sylvester swinhoei
Location Taiwan
Specimen Condition Live Specimen
Source IMG_7752al1
Source Collection Flickr
Image Use creative commons This media file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs License - Version 2.0.
Copyright © 2006 leemt2
Scientific Name Danaus genutia
Location Taiwan
Specimen Condition Live Specimen
Source IMG_6994al1
Source Collection Flickr
Image Use creative commons This media file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs License - Version 2.0.
Copyright © 2006 leemt2
Scientific Name Idea leuconoe
Location Taiwan
Specimen Condition Live Specimen
Source IMG_9343l1
Source Collection Flickr
Image Use creative commons This media file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs License - Version 2.0.
Copyright © 2006 leemt2
About This Page

Niklas Wahlberg
University of Turku, Finland


Middle Tennessee State University, Murfreesboro, Tennessee, USA

Correspondence regarding this page should be directed to Niklas Wahlberg at and Andrew V. Z. Brower at

Page: Tree of Life Danaini Boisduval 1833. Milkweed Butterflies. Authored by Niklas Wahlberg and Andrew V. Z. Brower. The TEXT of this page is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution License - Version 3.0. Note that images and other media featured on this page are each governed by their own license, and they may or may not be available for reuse. Click on an image or a media link to access the media data window, which provides the relevant licensing information. For the general terms and conditions of ToL material reuse and redistribution, please see the Tree of Life Copyright Policies.

Citing this page:

Wahlberg, Niklas and Andrew V. Z. Brower. 2010. Danaini Boisduval 1833. Milkweed Butterflies. Version 09 February 2010 (under construction). http://tolweb.org/Danaini/27571/2010.02.09 in The Tree of Life Web Project, http://tolweb.org/

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This page is a Tree of Life Branch Page.

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For a more detailed explanation of the different ToL page types, have a look at the Structure of the Tree of Life page.

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