Species Danaus petilia (Stoll, 1790)
Lesser Wanderer
- Papilio petilia Stoll, C. in Cramer, P. 1790. Uitlandsche Kapellen. [Dutch title] or Papilions exotiques des trois parties du monde l'Asie, l'Afrique et l'Amérique. [French title]. Supplement. Amsterdam Baalde and Utrecht : Wild Pt (2) pp. 43–162 pls 9–26; Suppl. (3) p. 1. 43-162 pls 9-26 [dated 1775–1790] [132 pl. 28 fig. 3].
Type data:
Neotype whereabouts unknown
Comment: Stoll in the original description did not indicate the number of specimens described but he did mention several localities.Subsequent designation references:
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.Type locality references:
Godart, J.B. 1819. Zoologie. Vol. 9 Pt 1 pp. 13–328 in Latreille, P.A. & Godart, J.B. Encyclopédie Méthodique. Histoire Naturelle. Entomologie, ou Histoire Naturelle des Crustacés, des Arachnides et des Insectes. Paris. [publication date: Sherborn, C.D. & Woodward, B.B. 1906. On the dates of publication of the natural history portions of the Encyclopédie Méthodique. Annals and Magazine of Natural History 7 17: 577–582; Cowan, C.F. 1968. [publication dates] Enc. Méth. 9. Journal of the Society for the Bibliography of Natural History 4(7): 307–311, 390 [310]; Sherborn, C.D. & Woodward, B.B. 1899. On the dates of the Encyclopédie Méthodique: additional note. Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London 1899(3): 595] [189] (gave the same localities as Stoll, that is China, Java and the Coromandel coast); Doubleday, E. in Doubleday, E. & Westwood, J.O. 1847. The Genera of Diurnal Lepidoptera: comprising their generic characters, a notice of their habits and transformations, and a catalogue of the species of each genus. Illustrated by W.C. Hewitson. London : Longman, Brown, Green & Longmans Vol. 1 pp. xii 1-18 pls A 1-4. [issued 1847, dated 1846-1850, publication dates] [92] (Doubleday gave the locality for petilia as Australia; he made no comment on the locality or what the true origin of Stoll's specimen(s) may have been).
Generic Combinations
- Danaus petilia (Stoll, 1790).
- Danaus chryssipus petilia (Stoll, 1790).
Introduction
Lushai et al. (2005) raised the subspecies Danaus chrysippus petilia (Stoll, 1790) to specific status according to differences in molecular and morphological characters, all phenetically based. Danaus petilia is now regarded as being endemic to the Australian Region, occurring east of Lydekker’s Line where breeding populations are apparently allopatric from D. chrysippus (Linneaus, 1758). This decision is supported by Braby et al. (2015), who illustrate the neotype.
Distribution
States
Australian Capital Territory, New South Wales, Northern Territory, Queensland, South Australia, Tasmania, Victoria, Western Australia
Extra Distribution Information
Extralimital distribution—Fiji, Indonesia (Irian Jaya), New Caledonia, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Vanuatu.
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
Original AFD Distribution Data
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
- New Caledonia
- New Zealand
- Papua New Guinea
- Vanuatu
Ecological Descriptors
Larva: herbivore.
General References
Braby, M.F. 1988. A note on directional flights of Eurema smilax (Donovan) (Lepidoptera: Pieridae) and Danaus chrysippus petilia (Stoll) (Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae) in Victoria. Australian Entomological Magazine 15(2): 53-57 [53] (included bibliography)
Common, I.F.B. & Waterhouse, D.F. 1981. Butterflies of Australia. Sydney : Angus & Robertson xiv 682 pp. 49 pls. [304] (biology)
Fruhstorfer, H. 1910. The Indo-Australian Rhopalocera. [Danaidae]. pp. 192-215 in Seitz, A. (ed.). The Macrolepidoptera of the World: a systematic description of the hitherto known macrolepidoptera. Stuttgart : Alfred Kernen Vol. 9 1197 pp. [194] (incorrect subsequent spelling as petilea Stoll)
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
Waterhouse, G.A. & Lyell, G. 1914. The Butterflies of Australia: a monograph of the Australian Rhopalocera introducing a complete scheme of structural classification, and giving descriptions and illustrations of all the butterflies found in Australia, including a number now recorded for the first time. Sydney : Angus & Robertson 239 pp. 38 pls + 3 unnumbered colour pls. [Date published 25 July 1914] [17] (description, distribution)
Zalucki, M.P. 1999. The Lesser Wanderer, Danaus chrysippus with comparative notes on Danaus plexippus (Nymphalidae: Danainae). pp. 173-189 in Kitching, R.L., Scheermeyer, E., Jones, R.L. & Pierce, N.E. (eds). Biology of Australian Butterflies. Collingwood : CSIRO Publishing xvi 395 pp. [173]
History of changes
| Published | As part of group | Action Date | Action Type | Compiler(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 05-Mar-2013 | 11-Mar-2015 | MODIFIED | ||
| 30-Mar-2012 | 30-Mar-2012 | MODIFIED | ||
| 06-Apr-2011 | MOVED |