Narrative

Danaus genutia is found from India and Ceylon (Sri Lanka) into China, south into Malaysia and Sumatra, east into Celebes (=Sulawesi), and further east into Australia. Several forms of this species resemble Danaus plexippus; other forms have additional white in the rear wings. The nominate subspecies is found from India into China and south into Indo-China, Thailand and Malaysia. There is confusion in the naming of several of the forms of this wide-ranging species.

This lifeform is found in Indonesia.

The third group in the Danaus genus can be referred to as the chrysippus group. There are five species in this group : Danaus chrysippus - very widespread in warmer Old World Danaus genutia - India into Australia Danaus philene - New Guinea and Solomon Islands Danaus affinis - Thailand into Australia Danaus melanippus - India into Celebes Danaus formosa of equatorial Africa should also be listed here

Milkweed butterflies (Danaid family) are found throughout the world. Although the United States has only a few species (including the common and well-known Monarch), countries like Malaysia and Taiwan have over a dozen species each in this family.

Most of the species in the Danaus and Idea genera can be identified by picture matching. However, the Euploea genus has some complex identification problems enhanced by geographical dimorphism. Species in Malaysia, for example, tend to look alike, and the same species when found in Borneo will look totally different and yet similar to each other. For further research one can refer to plate 23 of The Butterflies of the Malay Peninsula by Corbet and Pendlebury which states: Indeed, in such cases it is easier to ascertain the country of origin of a specimen than to determine its specific identity,

The task of identifying a group of Euploea butterflies from a specific place can be helped by the following tips. The trailing edge of the forewing in many Euploea species is rounded in the male and straight in the female. This will easily and quickly permit one to sex and match many of the specimens as the dot patterns are usually similar across the sexes. The male sex brand near the trailing edge of the wing on the dorsal side in male specimens is also useful for identification purposes. The double sex brand is unique to the Euploea sylvester/dufresne complex. A single large sex brand might indicate a specimen in the E. algea group.

Butterflies and Moths (Order Lepidoptera) are a group of insects with four large wings. They go through various life cycles including eggs, caterpillar (larvae), pupae, and adult. Most butterflies and moths feed as adults, but primarily do most of their growing in the larval or caterpillar stage. Also, most species are restricted to feeding as caterpillars upon a unique set of plants. In this pairing of insects to plants, there arises a unique plant population control system. When one plant species becomes too common, specific pests to that species also become more common and thus prevent the further spreading of that particular plant species.

Although most people think of the Lepidoptera as two different groups: butterflies and moths, technically, the concept is not valid.

Some families, such as Silk Moths (Saturnidae) and Hawk Moths (Sphingidae), are clearly moths. Other families, such as Swallowtail Butterflies (Papilionidae), are clearly butterflies, However, several families exhibit characteristics that appear to be neither moths nor butterflies. For example: the Castnia Moths of South America are frequently placed in the Skipper Family (Hesperidae). The Sunset Moths (Uranidae) have long narrow antennae and fly during the day.

Note: Numerous museums and biologists have loaned specimens to be photographed for this project.

Insects (Class Insecta) are the most successful animals on Earth if success is measured by the number of species or the total number of living organisms. This class contains more than a million species, of which North America has approximately 100,000. (Recent estimates place the number of worldwide species at four to six million.)

Insects have an exoskeleton. The body is divided into three parts. The foremost part, the head, usually bears two antennae. The middle part, the thorax, has six legs and usually four wings. The last part, the abdomen, is used for breathing and reproduction.

Although different taxonomists divide the insects differently, about thirty-five different orders are included in most of the systems.

The following abbreviated list identifies some common orders of the many different orders of insects discussed herein:

Odonata: - Dragon and Damsel Flies
Orthoptera: - Grasshoppers and Mantids
Homoptera: - Cicadas and Misc. Hoppers
Diptera: - Flies and Mosquitoes
Hymenoptera: - Ants, Wasps, and Bees
Lepidoptera: - Butterflies and Moths
Coleoptera: - Beetles

Jointed Legged Animals (Phylum Arthropoda) make up the largest phylum. There are probably more than one million different species of arthropods known to science. It is also the most successful animal phylum in terms of the total number of living organisms.

Butterflies, beetles, grasshoppers, various insects, spiders, and crabs are well-known arthropods.

The phylum is usually broken into the following five main classes:
Arachnida: - Spiders and Scorpions
Crustacea: - Crabs and Crayfish
Chilopoda: - Centipedes
Diplopoda: - Millipedes
Insecta: - Insects

There are several other rare classes in the arthropods that should be mentioned. A more formal list is as follows:

Sub Phylum Chelicerata
C. Arachnida: - Spiders and scorpions
C. Pycnogonida: - Sea spiders (500 species)
C. Merostomata: - Mostly fossil species

Sub Phylum Mandibulata
C. Crustacea: - Crabs and crayfish

Myriapod Group
C. Chilopoda: - Centipedes
C. Diplopoda: - Millipedes
C. Pauropoda: - Tiny millipede-like
C. Symphyla: - Garden centipedes

Insect Group
C. Insecta: - Insects

The above list does not include some extinct classes of Arthropods such as the Trilobites.