Southern monarch
The southern monarch is a big orange butterfly with black veins and edges, very much like the famous monarch butterfly. It is one of the best known butterflies in South America. The edge of its front wing is usually orange, not black.
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Fun facts
Its wings are about 11 centimetres across.
Until 2007 scientists thought it was just a kind of the North American monarch.
The boys have paler wings than the girls.
It moves to new places in spring and autumn, a bit like its famous cousin.
Most asked questions about Southern monarch
?Is the southern monarch the same as the monarch butterfly?
No. They look very alike, but they are two different species that split apart about 2 million years ago.
?Where does the southern monarch live?
In the warm parts of South America.
For bug experts
- Scientific name
- Danaus erippus
- Group
- Butterflies
- Family
- Nymphalidae
- Classification
- Insecta > Lepidoptera > Nymphalidae
- Lives on
- South America
Where the facts come from
- Danaus erippus (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0): what it looks like, where it lives, what it eats, sizes and fun facts, retold in simple words.
- Picture by Gabriela Ruellan. CC BY 3.0, Wikimedia Commons. The sticker of this bug is drawn from this picture.
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