The lesser wanderer butterfly, Danaus ( Anosia ) chrysippus petilia (Stoll) (Lepidoptera: Danainae), has been treated as a subspecies for the last 100 years. New mitochondrial DNA sequence data for D. petilia , in conjunction with allozyme, structural, morphometric and pattern characters, constitute a compelling case for its specific rank. The holotype of D. petilia has never been located and, ...

Mitochondrial and nuclear DNA information was analysed among four subspecies of the African Queen butterfly, Danaus (Anosia) chrysippus sensu lato ( s.l. ), along with four other Danaus species drawn from all three subgenera ( D. ( Danaus ) plexippus , D. (Salatura) genutia , D. (A.) gilippus , D. ( A.) eresimus ) and two outgroup species from the same tribe, Tirumala septentrionis and Amauris ...

Molecular clocks based on sequence change in mitochondrial (mt) DNA have been useful for placing molecular phylogenies in their historical context, thereby enhancing evolutionary insight. Nonetheless, despite their importance to phylogeographers, the methodology is controversial. Here we report on two mitochondrial clocks for the butterfly genus Danaus based on sequences from the cytochrome c o...

A cross between queen butterflies of the Palaeotropical species Danaus chrysippus and the Neotropical D.gilippus was achieved with difficulty in both directions. Only one progeny ( N = 70) was reared comprising sterile males and inviable females in a precisely 1:1 ratio. Both prezygotic and postzygotic barriers to gene flow are strong. The result supports Haldane’s Rule, to which we propose a m...

Sexually antagonistic selection can drive both the evolution of sex chromosomes and speciation itself. The tropical butterfly the African Queen, Danaus chrysippus, shows two such sexually antagonistic phenotypes, the first being sex-linked colour pattern, the second, susceptibility to a male-killing, maternally inherited mollicute, Spiroplasma ixodeti, which causes approximately 100% mortality ...