Plain tiger butterfly
This butterfly stores toxic heart poisons called cardenolides from its milkweed host plants, yet different populations vary hugely in how toxic and unpalatable they turn out to be.
| Where | Open country across Africa and Asia |
|---|---|
| Size | 65 to 80 mm wingspan |
| When | March to December |
The plain tiger butterfly has tawny orange wings with black tips marked by white spots and black wing margins, a black thorax speckled with white, and a wingspan of 65 to 80 mm. The abdomen is tawny brown.
Caterpillars feed only on milkweed family plants such as Calotropis and Asclepias, storing cardenolide toxins from the leaves through to the adult stage, though the amount stored and the resulting unpalatability to birds varies considerably between populations.
Traits
Habitat
Garden
Colour
Orange, Black, White
Active
Day
To people
Mild
Distasteful to birds after feeding on toxic milkweed as a caterpillar, but not harmful to handle.
Activity through the year
Often confused with
Has black wing veins running through the orange wings and a row of white spots along the black hindwing margin, both lacking on the plain tiger.
Questions
Is the Plain tiger butterfly dangerous to people?
Mild. Distasteful to birds after feeding on toxic milkweed as a caterpillar, but not harmful to handle.
When can you see the Plain tiger butterfly?
The Plain tiger butterfly can be seen from March to December, by day.
Plate retouched from a museum specimen photo by Swiss Natural History Collections - SwissNatColl, CC BY 4.0, GBIF Licence
Report a mistake in this entry
Butterflies and moths›Brush-footed butterflies›Danaus
Last updated 2026-09-27. Every entry is checked against published sources.