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 Pradesh222542463323
Arunachal Pradesh
Assam632815
Bihar42
Chandigarh1
Chhattisgarh55225114961293
Dadra & Nagar Haveli UT2
Daman & Diu UT
Delhi151082411138
Goa11
Gujarat1111143242382
Haryana4
Himachal Pradesh61
Jammu and Kashmir UT11
Jharkhand
Karnataka7916272134291814101119
Kerala1113473317111
Ladakh UT
Lakshadweep
Madhya Pradesh6751
Maharashtra91014182613244239473013
Manipur1
Meghalaya1
Mizoram1
Nagaland
Odisha11
Puducherry UT1
Punjab41
Rajasthan131114211
Sikkim14
Tamil Nadu215414515
Tripura17
Uttar Pradesh111622267
Uttarakhand4122112
West Bengal9413164510219112014
Total44496410492901021001361319179

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. 2024. 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 2024/03/28.