Danaus chrysippus (Linnaeus, 1758) - Plain Tiger

Subspecies in India

(1) Danaus chrysippus chrysippus (Linnaeus, 1758) – Oriental Plain Tiger

Conservation and Special status

This species is not legally protected in India under any schedules of WildLife (Protection) Act, 1972.

Photo Gallery and Species Biology

StateJanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecNo date
Andaman and Nicobar Islands UT21
Andhra Pradesh222542462323
Arunachal Pradesh
Assam622815
Bihar42
Chandigarh1
Chhattisgarh55225114961293
Dadra & Nagar Haveli UT2
Daman & Diu UT
Delhi15105249138
Goa11
Gujarat1111143242282
Haryana4
Himachal Pradesh61
Jammu and Kashmir UT11
Jharkhand
Karnataka791426213429161491019
Kerala1113473317111
Ladakh UT
Lakshadweep
Madhya Pradesh6451
Maharashtra81014182613244035463013
Manipur1
Meghalaya1
Mizoram1
Nagaland
Odisha11
Puducherry UT1
Punjab41
Rajasthan131114211
Sikkim14
Tamil Nadu215214515
Tripura17
Uttar Pradesh111622267
Uttarakhand4122102
West Bengal941316359119112013
Total434862103889099931271289078

Asclepias curassavica, Calotropis, Calotropis gigantea, Calotropis procera, Caralluma adscendens, Cryptolepis dubia, Pergularia daemia (Apocynaceae). Besides these plants, Hibiscus (Malvaceae) and Poaceae have been reported for this butterfly species, which is clearly an ovipositioin error, if the plants were recorded correctly in the first place.

Key Reference:

Nitin, R., V. C. Balakrishnan, P. V. Churi, S. Kalesh, S. Prakash, and K. Kunte. 2018. Larval host plants of the butterflies of the Western Ghats, India. Journal of Threatened Taxa, 10:11495–11550.

For the complete list of larval host plants of Indian butterflies, see the page on larval host plants.

Page citation

Lovalekar R., K. Saji, V. Barve, T. Bhagwat & Manoj P. 2023. Danaus chrysippus (Linnaeus, 1758) – Plain Tiger. In Kunte, K., S. Sondhi, and P. Roy (Chief Editors). Butterflies of India, v. 4.12. Published by the Indian Foundation for Butterflies. URL: https://www.ifoundbutterflies.org/danaus-chrysippus, accessed 2023/09/25.