Danaus genutia (Cramer, 1779)
Orange Tiger
 DANAINAE ,   NYMPHALIDAE

Don Herbison-Evans ( donherbisonevans@yahoo.com )
&
Stella Crossley

Danaus genutia
Danaus genutia
(Photo: courtesy of Khew Sin Khoon)

The Caterpillar of this species is varies in colour from beige to black. It has pale spots and transverse bands. It has a pair of long tentacles on the thorax, and shorter pairs behind the thorax and on the tail. It grows to a length of about 3 cms. It feeds on various plants from the family ASCLEPIADACEAE including :

  • Sarcostemma esculentum, and
  • Creeper-Weed ( Raphistemma pulchellum ).

    Danaus genutia
    Hong Kong    , 1979

    The adult butterflies are orange with wide black borders around the wings, and a variable number of white spots in the black tips of the forewings. The wingspan is about 6 cms.

    The eggs are bullet shaped and have a height of about 0.7 mm. They are cream coloured and laid singly on the underside of older leaves and stems of a foodplant.

    Danaus genutia
    Kampuchea    , 1985

    The species occurs as several subspecies throughout south-east Asia, including :

  • Hong Kong,
  • Indonesia,
  • Malaysia,
  • Singapore, and
  • Thailand,
    and occurs as subspecies alexis in:
  • Northern Territory, and
  • Western Australia.

    Further reading :

    C.E. Meyer,
    Notes on the Life History of Danaus genutia alexis (Waterhouse and Lyell) (Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae: Danainae), The Australian Entomologist, Volume 22, Part 4 (November 1995), pp. 137-139.

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    (updated 16 March 2010)