Danaus (genus)
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 Danaus chrysippus male
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12, see text |
Danaus is a genus of butterflies in the tiger butterfly tribe. Following the review of Smith et al. (2005), 12 species are provisionally accepted based on morphological, mtDNA 12S rRNA and cytochrome c oxidase subunit I, and nuclear DNA 18S rRNA and EF1 subunit α sequence data:
- Jamaican Monarch, Danaus cleophile
- Monarch Butterfly, Danaus plexippus
- Southern Monarch, Danaus erippus
- Ismare Tiger, Danaus ismare
- Common Tiger, Danaus genutia
- Malay Tiger, Danaus affinis
- White Tiger, Danaus melanippus
- Lesser Wanderer, Danaus petilia
- Plain Tiger, Danaus chrysippus
- Dorippus Tiger, Danaus dorippus - formerly included in D. chrysippus
- Soldier Butterfly or Tropic Queen, Danaus eresimus - includes D. plexaure
- Queen Butterfly, Danaus gilippus
This genus was formerly split into the subgenera Danaus, Salatura, and Anosia, but this arrangement has been abolished. While the first (the 2-3 monarch butterflies) and Salatura (species ismare, genutia, affinis and melanippus) do indeed seem to be clades, the relationship of these to the other species, especially the puzzling D. dorippus, is less than clear.
Hybridization producing fertile offspring is known to occur between some species, confounding mtDNA data; this seems to be especially true in the case of D. dorippus (Smith et al. 2005). In addition, male-killing Spiroplasma infection has been shown in D. chrysippus and probably also occurs in other species (Jiggins et al. 2000); the consequences for speciation and evolution are probably similar to those observed in infection with male-killing strains of the better-researched Wolbachia.
[edit] References
- Jiggins, F. M.; Hurst, G. D. D.; Jiggins, C. D.; Schulenburg, J. H. G. v. D. & Majerus, M. E. N. (2000): The butterfly Danaus chrysippus is infected by a male-killing Spiroplasma bacterium. Parasitology 120(5): 439–446. DOI:10.1017/S0031182099005867 (HTML abstract)
- Smith, David A. S.; Lushai, Gugs & Allen, John A. (2005): A classification of Danaus butterflies (Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae) based upon data from morphology and DNA. Zool. J. Linn. Soc. 144(2): 191–212. DOI:10.1111/j.1096-3642.2005.00169.x (HTML abstract)
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