Euploea

Euploea
Long-branded blue crow (E. algea menetriesii), Phi Phi, Thailand
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Lepidoptera
Family: Nymphalidae
Subfamily: Danainae
Tribe: Danaini
Subtribe: Euploeina
Genus: Euploea
Fabricius, 1807[1]
Type species
Papilio corus[2]
Fabricius, 1793
Synonyms[1]
  • Anadara Moore, 1883
  • Doricha Moore, 1883

Euploea is a genus of milkweed butterflies. The species are generally dark in coloration, often quite blackish, for which reason they are commonly called crows. As usual for their subfamily, they are poisonous due to feeding on milkweeds and other toxic plants as caterpillars. The latter are aposematically colored to warn off predators from eating them, and the adult butterflies are often mimicked by unrelated species which are not or less poisonous.

  1. ^ a b Euploea at Butterflies and Moths of the World, Natural History Museum
  2. ^ Hemming, Francis (1945). "Opinion 163. Suspension of the Rules for Euploea Fabricius, 1807 (Class Insecta, Order Lepidoptera)". Opinions and Declarations Rendered by the International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature. 2 (33): 338–343.