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
Bihar1142
Chandigarh1
Chhattisgarh55225114961293
Dadra & Nagar Haveli UT2
Daman & Diu UT
Delhi151082411148
Goa11
Gujarat1111143242382
Haryana4
Himachal Pradesh61
Jammu and Kashmir UT111
Jharkhand
Karnataka8918272634362014111119
Kerala1113473327111
Ladakh UT
Lakshadweep
Madhya Pradesh6751
Maharashtra101015212713244243493013
Manipur1
Meghalaya1
Mizoram1
Nagaland
Odisha1121
Puducherry UT11
Punjab41
Rajasthan131114211
Sikkim14
Tamil Nadu215414515
Tripura17
Uttar Pradesh111622267
Uttarakhand41341121
West Bengal9413194510219112014
Total46496811199921101031441349280

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. 2025. 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://ifoundbutterflies.org/danaus-chrysippus, accessed 2025/04/23.