Plain tiger (Danaus chrysippus), also known as the African queen, is widespread in Asia, Australia and Africa with small colonies in and migration to S. Europe. Like the monarch it belongs to the Danainae a subfamily of the Nymphalidae. Danainae primarily consume plants in the genus Asclepias, more commonly called milkweed, plants that contain toxic compounds, cardenolides, which are often consumed and stored by many butterflies. In Europe the larval foodplant is one of the Periploca species. The plain tiger is unpalatable to most predators because of their emetic properties and the species' coloration is widely mimicked by other species of butterflies. The plain tiger inhabits a wide variety of habitats, although it is less likely to thrive in jungle-like conditions and is most often found in drier, wide-open areas. In Europe, it occurs in far southern regions both as relict populations and as migrants (which reinforce those populations in late summer of each year. The insects here were photographed near Lago di Lesina, Gargano, Puglia, Italy