CreatureData

Plain tiger

Danaus chrysippus (Linnaeus, 1758)

Status not recordedbutterflies and moths

The plain tiger (Danaus chrysippus) is a species in the family Nymphalidae, order Lepidoptera.

No freely licensed photo yet

Quick facts about the plain tiger

Weight
Not recorded
Length
Not recorded
Wingspan
5 cm – 7.46 cmsrc for Wingspan
Lifespan
Not recorded
Main food
flowerssrc for Main food
Habitat
grassland, shrublandsrc for Habitat
Young per litter or clutch
Not recorded
On the wing
All yearsrc for On the wing
Generations a year
Severalsrc for Generations a year
Larval food plants
Apocynaceae familysrc for Larval food plants
Conservation status
Not recorded
Countries on record
Not recorded

How big is the plain tiger?

PLAIN TIGER · WINGSPAN 7.46 CMADULT HUMAN · HEIGHT 1.7 M
At 7.46 cm, the recorded maximum wingspan of the plain tiger is about 4.4% of the height of an adult human (1.7 m, a fixed reference used for scale).

Where does the plain tiger live?

Not recorded

Is the plain tiger endangered?

No conservation assessment is recorded for this species in our sources. That is not the same as being safe: it has not been matched to an assessment.

How is the plain tiger classified?

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

Synonyms Danais chrysippus, Danais cratippus, Danais fuscippus, Danais lemeemagdalenae, Danaus anomala, Danaus bipunctata, Danaus chrysippus aegyptius, Danaus chrysippus chrysippus, Danaus chrysippus petilia, Danaus completa, Danaus deficiens, Danaus duplicata, Danaus duponti, Danaus hanoiensis, Danaus impunctata, Danaus luxurians, Danaus ornata, Danaus petilea, Danaus petilia, Danaus radiata, Danaus reducta, Danaus subreducta, Danaus yuchingkini, Limnas klugii, Papilio chrysippus, Papilio petilia

Other names and names in other languages (42)
  • African monarchEnglish
  • African plain tigerEnglish
  • African queenEnglish
  • Common milkweed butterflyEnglish
  • Common tigerEnglish
  • Plain tiger butterflyEnglish
  • MelkbosskoenlapperAfrikaans
  • Afrikaanse MelkbosskoenlapperAfrikaans
  • Suidelike melkbosskoenlapperAfrikaans
  • ملكة أفريقياArabic
  • فراشة النمر العاديةArabic
  • তামটBangla
  • Papallona tigreCatalan
  • Danaus chrysippusCebuano
  • danaus východníCzech
  • Kleiner MonarchGerman
  • Afrikanischer MonarchGerman
  • Gewöhnlicher TigerGerman
  • Αφρικανική μονάρχηςGreek
  • mariposa tigreSpanish
  • silomonarkkiFinnish
  • Petit monarqueFrench
  • Monarque africainFrench
  • Petit Monarque (Le)French
  • דנאית הדורהHebrew
  • Afrički monarhCroatian
  • Monarca africanoItalian
  • カバマダラJapanese
  • 끝검은왕나비Korean
  • എരിക്കുതപ്പിMalayalam
  • बिबळ्या कडवाMarathi
  • Kleine monarchvlinderDutch
  • monarszka raniPolish
  • ٹائیگر تتلیWestern Panjabi
  • Данаида хризиппRussian
  • வெந்தய வரியன்Tamil
  • ผีเสื้อหนอนใบรักธรรมดาThai
  • SultanTurkish
  • Данаєць ХрисиппUkrainian
  • 樺斑蝶Chinese
  • 金斑蝶Chinese
  • 阿檀蝶Chinese

Catalogue of LifeiNaturalistTAXREFWikidata

Relatives of the plain tiger

Other species in the same genus Danaus.

Queen

Danaus gilippus

NymphalidaeNo free photo yet

Soldier

Danaus eresimus

NymphalidaeNo free photo yet

ComparePlain tiger vs Monarch butterflyPlain tiger vs Common tigerPlain tiger vs QueenPlain tiger vs Soldier

Common questions

Answered only where our data holds the answer.

How big is the plain tiger?

An adult plain tiger has a wingspan of 5 cm – 7.46 cm, according to values recorded on Wikidata.

What does the plain tiger eat?

Its recorded main food is flowers.

What kind of animal is the plain tiger?

The plain tiger (Danaus chrysippus) belongs to the family Nymphalidae in the order Lepidoptera.

Sources and how to cite this page

Data as of 2026-11-13. How this page is put together.

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APA

CreatureData. (2026). Plain tiger (Danaus chrysippus). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/plain-tiger

MLA

“Plain tiger (Danaus chrysippus).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/plain-tiger.

BibTeX
@misc{plain_tiger_2026,
  title = {Plain tiger (Danaus chrysippus)},
  author = {{CreatureData}},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/plain-tiger},
  note = {Data as of 2026-11-13}
}