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Home » Guide » Arthropods (Arthropoda) » Hexapods (Hexapoda) » Insects (Insecta) » Butterflies and Moths (Lepidoptera) » Butterflies and Skippers (Papilionoidea) » Brush-footed Butterflies (Nymphalidae) » Milkweed Butterflies & Glasswings (Danainae) » Milkweed Butterflies (Danaini) » Danaus » Soldier - Hodges#4616 (Danaus eresimus)

Species Danaus eresimus - Soldier - Hodges#4616

Classification · Hodges Number · Other Common Names · Synonyms and other taxonomic changes · Explanation of Names · Numbers · Size · Identification · Range · Habitat · Season · Food · Remarks · See Also · Print References · Internet References · Works Cited

Soldier or Queen? - Danaus eresimus - female

Danaus eresimus (Cramer) - Danaus eresimus - male - female

Show images of: caterpillars · adults · both

Classification

Kingdom Animalia (Animals)

Phylum Arthropoda (Arthropods)

Subphylum Hexapoda (Hexapods)

Class Insecta (Insects)

Order Lepidoptera (Butterflies and Moths)

Superfamily Papilionoidea (Butterflies and Skippers)

Family Nymphalidae (Brush-footed Butterflies)

Subfamily Danainae (Milkweed Butterflies & Glasswings)

Tribe Danaini (Milkweed Butterflies)

Genus Danaus

Species eresimus (Soldier - Hodges#4616)

Hodges Number

4616

Other Common Names

Tropical Queen (1)

Synonyms and other taxonomic changes

Danaus eresimus (Cramer)

Pap[ilio]. Dan[aus] Festiv[us]. Eresimus Cramer, [1777] (2) usually cited as: Papilio eresimus Cramer 1777

Explanation of Names

eresis - Greek for 'take' (3)

Numbers

Three Danaus species north of Mexico. (2)

Size

wingspan ~8 cm

Identification

Dorsal, very similar to the Queen, with slightly darker veins. Male has a black dot on each HW.

Ventral, black veins on both FW and HW, Queen only has black veins on HW. Soldiers are the only one in the genus that has pale squarish spots forming a concentric postmedian band.

Range

mostly so. TX, so. FL / W. Indies / Mexico to Brazil - Map (MPG) (4)(5)

a few strays are reported north of their southern range each fall.

Habitat

Found in many different open areas with their host plant, nectar sources, or pyrrolizidine alkaloids.

Season

North to Orland in the summer, all year in south Florida with 3+ broods, most common October-December.

Food

Milkweeds A. curassavica, A. tomentosa, twinevines - Funastrum (=Sarcostemma) clausumi, Funastrum (=Sarcostemma) cynanchoides, Cynanchum racemosum and latexplant - Morrenia odorata (Asclepiadaceae)

"I've never had Soldiers oviposit on Tropical Milkweed, although larvae readily eat it. They typically oviposit on Cynanchum or Sarcostemma. (Dale Clark, pers. comm. to MAQ, 2013)

Remarks

Tropical species that began colonizing Florida in the 1970's. The Florida Soldiers come from an Antillean population, and the Texas Soldiers originated in Mexico.

In the summer, Soldiers sometimes stray north to NC.

See Also

Relatives: Queen, Monarch. See also the unrelated Viceroy

Print References

(6) (7) (8) (9)

Calhoun, J.V. 1996. Conquering soldiers: the successful invasion of Florida by Danaus eresimus (Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae). Holarctic Lepidoptera 3: 7-18.

Cramer, [1777]. Uitlandsche Kapellen (Papillons exotiques) Uitl. Kapellen 2 (9-16): 1-152.

Internet References

Moth Photographers Group -

MPG (4)

Butterflies of America - BOA (2)

Soldier larvae - Dale Clark, Dallas County Lepidopterists' Society (DCLS)

Butterflies and Moths of North America - BAMONA

First published illustration of a soldier larva and pupa - Stoll, 1791

Works Cited

1.	National Audubon Society Field Guide to Butterflies Robert Michael Pyle. 1981. Knopf.

2.	A Catalogue of the Butterflies of the United States and Canada--by Jonathan P. Pelham

3.	Dictionary of Word Roots and Combining Forms Donald J. Borror. 1960. Mayfield Publishing Company.

4.	North American Moth Photographers Group

5.	Arthropods of Florida and Neighboring Land Areas: Lepidoptera of Florida J.B. Heppner. 2003. Florida Department of Agriculture 17(1): 1-670.

6.	Caterpillars in the Field and Garden: A Field Guide to the Butterfly Caterpillars of North America Thomas J. Allen, James P. Brock, Jeffrey Glassberg. 2005. Oxford University Press.

7.	Butterflies of the East Coast : An Observer's Guide Rick Cech, Guy Tudor. 2005. Princeton University Press.

8.	Butterflies of North America (Kaufman Focus Guides) Jim P. Brock, Kenn Kaufman. 2003. Houghton Mifflin Co.

9.	Butterflies through Binoculars: Florida Jeffrey Glassberg, Marc C. Minno, John V. Calhoun. 2000. Oxford Press.

Contributed by Alan Chin Lee on 30 August, 2004 - 9:28pm
Additional contributions by cotinis, tom murray, Mike Quinn, Maury Heiman, David Ferguson
Last updated 19 November, 2017 - 1:45pm

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