---
title: "Southern Monarch"
description: "Danaus erippus — Insects & spiders. Danaus erippus, the southern monarch, is a milkweed butterfly (subfamily Danainae) in the family Nymphalidae."
canonical: https://animalchecklist.com/animal/southern-monarch
last_updated: 2026-09-20
---

# Southern Monarch

> Danaus erippus — Insects & spiders. Danaus erippus, the southern monarch, is a milkweed butterfly (subfamily Danainae) in the family Nymphalidae.

- Scientific name: *Danaus erippus*
- Category: `insects` (Insects & spiders)
- Habitats: unknown
- iNaturalist observations: 10151
- Wikidata: [Q1308960](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1308960)
- iNaturalist taxon: [126299](https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/126299)

## Names

- en: Southern Monarch
- es: Monarca Sudamericana

## Countries with the most observations

AR (5463), BR (3279), UY (336), BO (225), PY (62), CL (37), PE (9)

## Summary

Danaus erippus, the southern monarch, is a milkweed butterfly (subfamily Danainae) in the family Nymphalidae.  It is one of the best known butterflies in South America. Its genome is nearly identical to D. plexippus, but the two are incompatible, and therefore considered separate species.

Text: Wikipedia (en), CC BY-SA 4.0 — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Danaus_erippus

## Photo

![Southern Monarch](https://animalchecklist.com/img/animals/southern-monarch/medium.jpg)

Photo: Julia Ariadna · CC0 · inaturalist — https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/148286019

## Machine access

`GET https://animalchecklist.com/api/v1/animals/southern-monarch?lang=en` — see [openapi.json](https://animalchecklist.com/openapi.json).