Australian Biological Resources Study

Australian Faunal Directory

Species Danaus chrysippus (Linnaeus, 1758)

Museums

Regional Maps

Species Danaus chrysippus (Linnaeus, 1758)

Lesser Wanderer

Distribution

States

Australian Capital Territory, New South Wales, Northern Territory, Queensland, South Australia, Tasmania, Victoria, Western Australia


Extra Distribution Information

Extralimital distribution—Indonesia (Irian Jaya, Maluku), Fiji, New Caledonia, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, Afrotropical Region, Oriental Region.


Note that conversion of the original AFD map of states, drainage basins and coastal and oceanic zones to IBRA and IMCRA regions may have produced errors. The new maps will be reviewed and corrected as updates occur. The maps may not indicate the entire distribution. See further details below.
IBRA and IMCRA regions (map not available)
drainage basins and coastal and oceanic zones (map not available)

IBRA

ACT, NSW, NT, Qld, SA, Tas, Vic, WA: Australian Alps (AA), Arnhem Coast (ARC), Arnhem Plateau (ARP), Avon Wheatbelt (AW), Brigalow Belt North (BBN), Brigalow Belt South (BBS), Ben Lomond (BEL), Broken Hill Complex (BHC), Burt Plain (BRT), Central Arnhem (CA), Carnarvon (CAR), Channel Country (CHC), Central Kimberley (CK), Central Mackay Coast (CMC), Coolgardie (COO), Cobar Peneplain (CP), Central Ranges (CR), Cape York Peninsula (CYP), Daly Basin (DAB), Darwin Coastal (DAC), Desert Uplands (DEU), Dampierland (DL), Davenport Murchison Ranges (DMR), Darling Riverine Plains (DRP), Einasleigh Uplands (EIU), Esperance Plains (ESP), Eyre Yorke Block (EYB), Finke (FIN), Flinders Lofty Block (FLB), Flinders (FLI), Gascoyne (GAS), Gawler (GAW), Gibson Desert (GD), Gulf Fall and Uplands (GFU), Geraldton Sandplains (GS), Great Sandy Desert (GSD), Gulf Coastal (GUC), Gulf Plains (GUP), Great Victoria Desert (GVD), Hampton (HAM), Jarrah Forest (JF), Kanmantoo (KAN), King (KIN), Little Sandy Desert (LSD), MacDonnell Ranges (MAC), Mallee (MAL), Murray Darling Depression (MDD), Mitchell Grass Downs (MGD), Mount Isa Inlier (MII), Mulga Lands (ML), Murchison (MUR), Nandewar (NAN), Naracoorte Coastal Plain (NCP), New England Tablelands (NET), Northern Kimberley (NK), NSW North Coast (NNC), NSW South Western Slopes (NSS), Nullarbor (NUL), Ord Victoria Plain (OVP), Pine Creek (PCK), Pilbara (PIL), Riverina (RIV), Sydney Basin (SB), South East Coastal Plain (SCP), South East Corner (SEC), South Eastern Highlands (SEH), South Eastern Queensland (SEQ), Simpson Strzelecki Dunefields (SSD), Stony Plains (STP), Sturt Plateau (STU), Swan Coastal Plain (SWA), Tanami (TAN), Tasmanian Central Highlands (TCH), Tiwi Cobourg (TIW), Tasmanian Northern Midlands (TNM), Tasmanian Northern Slopes (TNS), Tasmanian South East (TSE), Tasmanian Southern Ranges (TSR), Tasmanian West (TWE), Victoria Bonaparte (VB), Victorian Midlands (VM), Victorian Volcanic Plain (VVP), Warren (WAR), Wet Tropics (WT), Yalgoo (YAL)

Other Regions

Lord Howe Island terrestrial & freshwater, Norfolk Island terrestrial & freshwater, Torres Strait Islands terrestrial, marine & freshwater

Original AFD Distribution Data

Afrotropical Region

Australian Region

  • Australia
    • Australian Capital Territory
    • Lord Howe Island
    • New South Wales: Bulloo River basin, Lake Eyre basin, Murray-Darling basin, SE coastal
    • Norfolk Island
    • Northern Territory: Lake Eyre basin, N Gulf, N coastal, W plateau
    • Queensland: Bulloo River basin, Lake Eyre basin, Murray-Darling basin, N Gulf, NE coastal
    • South Australia: Lake Eyre basin, Murray-Darling basin, S Gulfs, SE coastal, W plateau
    • Tasmania
    • Victoria: Murray-Darling basin, SE coastal
    • Western Australia: N coastal, NW coastal, SW coastal, W plateau
  • Fiji
  • Indonesia
    • Irian Jaya
    • Maluku
  • New Caledonia
  • New Zealand
  • Papua New Guinea
  • Solomon Islands
  • Vanuatu

Oriental Region

Ecological Descriptors

Larva: herbivore (associated flora: Brachystelma glabriflorum (F.Muell.) Schltr. [ASCLEPIADACEAE] Bowich; Gomphocarpus cancellatus (Burm. f.) Bruyns [ASCLEPIADACEAE] Broad-leaved Cottonbush; Marsdenia australis (R.Br.) Druce [APOCYNACEAE] Doubah; Calotropis gigantea (L.) W.T.Aiton [APOCYNACEAE] Giant Calotrope; Gomphocarpus fruticosus (L.) W.T.Aiton [APOCYNACEAE] Narrowleaf Cottonbush; Rhyncharrhena linearis (Decne.) K.L.Wilson [ASCLEPIADACEAE] Purple Pentatrope; Calotropis procera (Aiton) R.Br. ex W.T.Aiton [APOCYNACEAE] Rubber Tree; Sarcostemma esculentum (L.f.) R.W.Holm [APOCYNACEAE]; Cynanchum carnosum (R.Br.) Schltr. [ASCLEPIADACEAE]; Cynanchum christineae P.I.Forst. [ASCLEPIADACEAE]; Cynanchum floribundum R.Br. [ASCLEPIADACEAE]; Cynanchum leibianum (F.Muell.) P.I.Forst. [APOCYNACEAE]; Asclepias curassavica L. [ASCLEPIADACEAE]; Asclepias physocarpa Schltr. [ASCLEPIADACEAE]).

Extra Ecological Information

Introduced plants include Asclepias curassavica, A. physocarpa, Calotropis gigantea, C. procera, Gomphocarpus cancellatus, G. fruticosa (Asclepiadaceae).

 

Details of nominate subspecies, not present in Australia

Danaus chrysippus chrysippus (Linnaeus, 1758)

Papilio chrysippus Linnaeus, C. 1758. Systema Naturae per regna tria naturae, secundum classes, ordines, genera, species, cum characteribus, differentiis, synonymis, locis. Edition X, reformata. Holmiae : Laurentii Salvii Vol. 1 824 pp. [471].
Type data: syntypes BMNH 2♂*; Linnaeus in the original description did not indicate the number of specimens described but he did refer to illustrations; Corbet, A.S. 1941. The Linnaean names of Indo-Australian Rhopalocera. Pts 1, 2. Proceedings of the Royal Entomological Society of London B 10: 8–27 [19] (detailed type information and referred to a specimen in the Linnaean collection and to an illustration); Corbet, A.S. 1949. The Linnaean names of Indo-Australian Rhopalocera. Pt 7. Summary of determinations. Proceedings of the Royal Entomological Society of London B 18: 191–199 [192, 195] (type information, type locality as Canton, China).
Type locality: Canton, China (Linnaeus originally incorrectly gave Aegypto, America), see Corbet, A.S. 1941. The Linnaean names of Indo-Australian Rhopalocera. Pts 1, 2. Proceedings of the Royal Entomological Society of London B 10: 8–277 [19] (referred to two males from South-east China).

 

History of changes

Note that this list may be incomplete for dates prior to September 2013.
Published As part of group Action Date Action Type Compiler(s)
07-Mar-2024 PAPILIONOIDEA 07-Mar-2024 MODIFIED Dr Michael Braby
04-Feb-2023 PAPILIONOIDEA 22-Dec-2023 MODIFIED Dr Michael Braby (ANU)
13-May-2022 PAPILIONOIDEA 07-Mar-2024 MODIFIED Dr Michael Braby
26-Feb-2021 PAPILIONOIDEA 07-Mar-2024 MODIFIED Dr Michael Braby
04-Jun-2020 PAPILIONOIDEA 07-Mar-2024 MODIFIED Dr Michael Braby
13-Dec-2017 Danaini 07-Mar-2024 MODIFIED
04-Jun-2020 NYMPHALIDAE Rafinesque, 1815 07-Mar-2024 MODIFIED
06-Sep-2017 PAPILIONOIDEA 07-Mar-2024 MODIFIED
01-Feb-2016 Danaini 07-Mar-2024 MODIFIED
05-Mar-2013 07-Mar-2024 MODIFIED
30-Mar-2012 07-Mar-2024 MODIFIED
05-Apr-2011 MOVED