Dear Selkh

There are two species of monarch butterflies : Danaus chrysippus aegyptius ( The African Monarch) and Danaus plexippus plexippus (The monarch). The first species meets in Africa in Cameroon and in other countries of the continent. I think that your picture corresponds to Danaus chrysipus aegyptius.

Kind regards

Yannis

I want to wholes first thank you for your honrable answers on my question , this species of butterfly appears to Sahara in autumn and spring, the photo was taken has adrar ( coordinates 27 ° 50 55 " N and 0° 17' 35 " W) ... again thank you for your answers

Hi Yannis:

As a complement of Felipe answer, Dannaus chrysippus  is a typical species of the entire tropical belt of Africa, Southeast Asia and Australia, but also present in the Palaearctic region: Algeria, Morocco and Egypt. This is a migratory species that has colonized southern Greece, southern Italy, the Canary Islands and the Azores. Lately this species of monarch butterfly has established itself in the center of Spain.

Hello everyone,

Even here in South Italy (Calabria), Dannaus chrysippus has adapted although at this stage we found on Asclepias fruticosa near a damp areas (swamp of salt) locations Reggio Calabria.

Dannaus chrysippus.. a very common butterfly in Asia also.

Dear Selkh,

Nice photos of the male Danaus chrysippus - I am used to seeing very blurry images sent in by the public!  Female D. chrysippus is almost identical but without the pheromone pouch on the hind wing.  D. chrysippus is also a model for several mimetic butterflies in Africa and elsewhere, especially the sex limited Batesian mimic Hypolimnas misippus (only females are mimics), so you might want to look closely if you see any more "D. chrysippus".  Mimics are difficult to identify in flight but you will notice the subtle differences if you capture one.

Also, for the record Danaus chrysippus was previously known from Australia as ssp. petilia; however, petilia is now recognized as a full species [see: Lushai, G., Zalucki, M. P., Smith, D. A. S., Goulson, D. & Daniels, G. (2005). The lesser wanderer butterfly, Danaus petilia (Stoll 1790) stat. rev. (Lepidoptera: Danainae), reinstated as a species. Australian Journal of Entomology 44:6-14.]

Cheers,

Rod.

 Dear Selkh

You might also be interested in this publication, which you can request from me via ResearchGate:

Braby, M.F., Farias Quipildor, G.E., Vane-Wright, R.I. & Lohman, D.J. 2015. Morphological and molecular evidence supports recognition of Danaus petilia (Stoll, 1790) (Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae) as a species distinct from D. chrysippus (Linnaeus, 1758). Systematics & Biodiversity 13(4): 386–402. doi: 10.1080/14772000.2014.992378

This paper includes quite an extensive account of the distribution of Danaus chrysippus -- which is most closely related to Danaus petilia in the Australian region, and the Queen butterfly, Danaus gilippus, in the Americas.

Dick Vane-Wright, Canterbury, UK

Danaus chrysippus, a very popular species of the Indian Sub-Continent.