CreatureData

Monarch butterfly

Danaus plexippus (Linnaeus, 1758)

LCLeast Concernbutterflies and moths

The monarch butterfly (Danaus plexippus) is a species in the family Nymphalidae, order Lepidoptera. It has been recorded in 97 countries, most often in United States, Canada and Australia. Its IUCN Red List status is Least Concern.

Monarch butterfly (Danaus plexippus)
Photo: Didier Descouens · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Quick facts about the monarch butterfly

Weight
Not recorded
Length
Not recorded
Wingspan
9 cmsrc for Wingspan
Lifespan
Not recorded
Main food
Not recorded
Habitat
Not recorded
Young per litter or clutch
Not recorded
Conservation status
Least Concern (IUCN)src for Conservation status
Recorded in
97 countriessrc for Recorded in

How big is the monarch butterfly?

MONARCH BUTTERFLY · WINGSPAN 9 CMADULT HUMAN · HEIGHT 1.7 M
At 9 cm, the recorded maximum wingspan of the monarch butterfly is about 5.3% of the height of an adult human (1.7 m, a fixed reference used for scale).

Photos of the monarch butterfly

Only freely licensed photos are shown. Each carries its creator and licence.

Monarch butterfly (Danaus plexippus)
Didier Descouens · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
Monarch butterfly (Danaus plexippus)
Rhododendrites · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Where does the monarch butterfly live?

Countries with openly licensed sighting records on GBIF. This shows where the species has been recorded, including zoos and introduced populations. It is not a definitive range.

The monarch butterfly has been recorded in 97 countries, from 437,971 records.

Fiji: 20 recordsCanada: 18,472 recordsUnited States of America: 404,951 recordsPapua New Guinea: 129 recordsIndonesia: 272 recordsArgentina: 5 recordsChile: 1 recordDem. Rep. Congo: 1 recordHaiti: 14 recordsDominican Rep.: 37 recordsBahamas: 15 recordsMexico: 3,576 recordsBrazil: 77 recordsBolivia: 5 recordsPeru: 343 recordsColombia: 586 recordsPanama: 54 recordsCosta Rica: 415 recordsNicaragua: 16 recordsHonduras: 26 recordsEl Salvador: 7 recordsGuatemala: 57 recordsBelize: 13 recordsVenezuela: 63 recordsGuyana: 44 recordsSuriname: 33 recordsFrance: 26 recordsEcuador: 121 recordsPuerto Rico: 90 recordsJamaica: 23 recordsCuba: 25 recordsNamibia: 8 recordsCôte d'Ivoire: 1 recordOman: 1 recordVanuatu: 42 recordsCambodia: 1 recordVietnam: 1 recordSouth Korea: 1 recordIndia: 18 recordsNepal: 15 recordsSweden: 3 recordsGermany: 5 recordsNetherlands: 2 recordsPortugal: 1,429 recordsSpain: 785 recordsIreland: 6 recordsNew Caledonia: 28 recordsSolomon Is.: 53 recordsNew Zealand: 1,452 recordsAustralia: 3,702 recordsSri Lanka: 2 recordsChina: 2 recordsTaiwan: 32 recordsDenmark: 1 recordUnited Kingdom: 59 recordsPhilippines: 10 recordsMalaysia: 3 recordsJapan: 3 recordsParaguay: 1 recordMorocco: 4 recordsTrinidad and Tobago: 33 records
  • None on record
  • 1–9
  • 10–99
  • 100–999
  • 1,000+
records per country · small islands are not drawn at this scale

The same figures as a list, most records first

  1. United States404,951
  2. Canada18,472
  3. Australia3,702
  4. Mexico3,576
  5. New Zealand1,452
  6. Portugal1,429
  7. Spain785
  8. Colombia586
  9. Costa Rica415
  10. Peru343
  11. Indonesia272
  12. Guam165
  13. Papua New Guinea129
  14. Ecuador121
  15. Guadeloupe93
  16. Puerto Rico90
  17. Martinique89
  18. Brazil77
  19. St. Kitts & Nevis70
  20. Venezuela63
  21. United Kingdom59
  22. Guatemala57
  23. British Virgin Islands55
  24. Panama54
  25. Solomon Islands53
  26. Guyana44
  27. Vanuatu42
  28. Dominican Republic37
  29. Dominica36
  30. Suriname33
  31. Trinidad & Tobago33
  32. Taiwan32
  33. Tonga29
  34. New Caledonia28
  35. France26
  36. Honduras26
  37. Cuba25
  38. Jamaica23
  39. Fiji20
  40. India18
Show 57 more countries
  1. Gibraltar17
  2. Norfolk Island17
  3. Nicaragua16
  4. Barbados15
  5. Bahamas15
  6. Nepal15
  7. Caribbean Netherlands14
  8. Curaçao14
  9. Haiti14
  10. Belize13
  11. Samoa13
  12. Réunion12
  13. U.S. Virgin Islands12
  14. Aruba11
  15. Cayman Islands11
  16. St. Martin10
  17. Philippines10
  18. St. Barthélemy9
  19. Namibia8
  20. Antigua & Barbuda7
  21. El Salvador7
  22. Bermuda6
  23. French Guiana6
  24. Ireland6
  25. Sint Maarten6
  26. Argentina5
  27. Bolivia5
  28. Germany5
  29. French Polynesia5
  30. American Samoa4
  31. Cook Islands4
  32. Morocco4
  33. St. Pierre & Miquelon4
  34. Japan3
  35. Northern Mariana Islands3
  36. Malaysia3
  37. Sweden3
  38. Turks & Caicos Islands3
  39. Wallis & Futuna3
  40. China2
  41. Grenada2
  42. Sri Lanka2
  43. Netherlands2
  44. St. Vincent & Grenadines2
  45. Congo - Kinshasa1
  46. Côte d’Ivoire1
  47. Chile1
  48. Denmark1
  49. Hong Kong SAR China1
  50. Cambodia1
  51. South Korea1
  52. Montserrat1
  53. Oman1
  54. Paraguay1
  55. St. Helena1
  56. U.S. Outlying Islands1
  57. Vietnam1

What is the monarch butterfly?

Quoted from WikipediaCC BY-SA 4.0

The monarch butterfly or simply monarch (Danaus plexippus) is a milkweed butterfly (subfamily Danainae) in the family Nymphalidae. Other common names, depending on region, include milkweed, common tiger, wanderer, and black-veined brown. It is among the most familiar of North American butterflies and an iconic pollinator, although it is not an especially effective pollinator of milkweeds. Its wings feature an easily recognizable black, orange, and white pattern, with a wingspan of 8.9–10.2 cm (3.5–4.0 in). A Müllerian mimic, the viceroy butterfly, is similar in color and pattern, but is markedly smaller and has an extra black stripe across each hindwing.

The eastern North American monarch population is notable for its annual southward late-summer/autumn instinctive migration from the northern and central United States and southern Canada to Florida and Mexico. During the fall migration, monarchs cover thousands of miles, with a corresponding multigenerational return north in spring. The western North American population of monarchs west of the Rocky Mountains often migrates to sites in southern California, but have been found in overwintering Mexican sites, as well. Populations are found further south in the Americas, and in parts of Europe, Oceania, and Southeast Asia.

Wikipedia contributors, “Monarch butterfly”, Wikipedia (revision 1383444449), retrieved 2026-11-11. Shared under CC BY-SA 4.0; this block is kept separate from our own text.

What does the monarch butterfly sound like?

Geoff Barker · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Is the monarch butterfly endangered?

The monarch butterfly is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List: it is not currently at risk of extinction.

  1. LCLeast Concern
  2. NTNear Threatened
  3. VUVulnerable
  4. ENEndangered
  5. CRCritically Endangered
  6. EWExtinct in the Wild
  7. EXExtinct

Category via Wikidata (CC0). Find the full assessment on the IUCN Red List. See all Least Concern species.

How is the monarch butterfly classified?

  1. kingdomAnimalia
  2. phylumArthropoda
  3. classInsecta
  4. orderLepidoptera
  5. familyNymphalidae
  6. genusDanaus
  7. SpeciesDanaus plexippus (Linnaeus, 1758)

Synonyms Danaida plexippus, Danaus americanus, Danaus archippus, Danaus curassavicae, Danaus fumosus, Danaus leucogyne, Danaus megalippe, Danaus menippe, Danaus misippiformis, Danaus nigrippus, Danaus nivosus, Danaus obliterata, Danaus pulchra, Papilio archippus, Papilio plexippus

Names in other languages (19)
  • monarque (papillon)French
  • MonarchfalterGerman
  • Borboleta-monarcaPortuguese
  • monarchvlinderDutch
  • monarkSwedish
  • オオカバマダラJapanese
  • 君主斑蝶Chinese
  • فراشة ملكيةArabic
  • मोनार्चHindi
  • Данаида монархRussian
  • 帝王斑蝶Chinese
  • 帝王蝶Chinese
  • 大樺斑蝶Chinese
  • 褐脈棕斑蝶Chinese
  • MonarchEnglish
  • Common tiger wandererEnglish
  • monarqueFrench
  • MonarchGerman
  • farfalla monarcaItalian

GBIFWikidataWikipediaNCBI TaxonomyITISEncyclopedia of LifeiNaturalist

Relatives of the monarch butterfly

Other species in the same class Insecta.

DD, Data Deficient
Honey bee (Apis mellifera)

Honey bee

Apis mellifera

Apidae

CompareMonarch butterfly vs Honey beeMonarch butterfly vs Seven-spot ladybirdMonarch butterfly vs Emperor dragonflyMonarch butterfly vs Stag beetle

Common questions

Answered only where our data holds the answer.

How big is the monarch butterfly?

An adult monarch butterfly has a wingspan of 9 cm, according to values recorded on Wikidata.

Where does the monarch butterfly live?

The monarch butterfly has openly licensed sighting records from 97 countries on GBIF. The most records come from United States, Canada, Australia, Mexico and New Zealand. These are recorded sightings, not a definitive range.

Is the monarch butterfly endangered?

The monarch butterfly is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List, meaning it is not currently at risk of extinction.

What kind of animal is the monarch butterfly?

The monarch butterfly (Danaus plexippus) belongs to the family Nymphalidae in the order Lepidoptera.

Sources and how to cite this page

Data as of 2026-11-11. How this page is put together.

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APA

CreatureData. (2026). Monarch butterfly (Danaus plexippus). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/monarch-butterfly

MLA

“Monarch butterfly (Danaus plexippus).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/monarch-butterfly.

BibTeX
@misc{monarch_butterfly_2026,
  title = {Monarch butterfly (Danaus plexippus)},
  author = {{CreatureData}},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/monarch-butterfly},
  note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}