Danainae

Milkweed butterflies
	Three Milkweed butterflies
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Lepidoptera
(unranked):	Rhopalocera
Family:	Nymphalidae
Subfamily:	Danainae
Tribes
	Danaini; Tellervini; Ithomiini; but see text.;
Synonyms
	Danaidae;

Features of the family Danaidae/sub family Danainae

Some authors try to classify this family as a subfamily of Nymphalidae but from the tradition it was consider as a separate family. I still as many other authors accept the traditional classification of Danaidae as a separate family. This separation is based on,

similarity of early stages

similar habits and

poisonous nature.

1. Small to Large size butterflies. Most are not brightly coloured

2. Forelegs modified in to brushes and are not suited for walking

3. Sex marks appear on the wings of most males, either as patches on the hindwing or one or two brands on the forewing or with sex brand patches on either fore or hind wing.

in some Euploea males the dorsum of forewing bowed and in females it is straight

4. Most danaidae males have one or two pair of anal hair of pencils

5. Most of the members are model of 'mimetic' butterfly species of other families.

6. Danaids are poisonance and left alone by birds and other natural predators.

7. Danaids are extremly tuff and hard to kill

8. Take part in migration

9. Food plants belongs to Asclepiadaceae, Apocynaceae, and Mraceae^[1].

Milkweed butterflies are a subfamily, Danainae, in the family Nymphalidae, or brush-footed butterflies. They lay their eggs on various milkweeds on which their larvae (caterpillars) feed. Historically, this group had been considered a separate family, Danaidae, and the tribes placed herein were sometimes considered distinct subfamilies in the Nymphalidae.

There are some 300 species of Danainae worldwide, but only four are found in North America: the Monarch Butterfly (Danaus plexippus); the Queen (Danaus gilippus); the Tropical Milkweed Butterfly (Lycorea cleobaea); and the Soldier Butterfly (or "Tropic Queen"; Danaus eresimus). Most of the Danaini are found in tropical Asia and Africa, while the Ithomiini are diverse in the Neotropics. Tellervini are restricted to Australia and the Oriental region.

The best known member of this family is the Monarch butterfly. The larvae and the butterflies retain poisonous glycosides from their larval host plant, the milkweed, so they become distasteful to potential predators. These milkweed butterflies (Monarch, Queen, Soldier) eat only milkweeds (Asclepias) as larvae. This highly effective defense strategy shields them against almost all predators that soon learn to avoid these species after attempting to eat them.

Another member known especially for its presence in butterfly greenhouses and live butterfly expositions is the Southeast Asian Idea leuconoe.

Numerous wasps are parasitoids of milkweed butterfly caterpillars.

The extensive modification of landscapes in the United States and Canada, with the removal of roadside weeds that are butterfly host plants and the large-scale use of pesticides, and increased deforestation in Mexico, threatens the migratory Monarch butterfly.