MORPHOLOGY
External characteristics
Male
Forewings: The forewing lower angle is obtuse. The forewing underside has a black coloured costal border, occupying about one-half of the cell. There are three yellow-ish spots and a row of three subapical dots, followed by two or three submarginal dots, yellow coloured or tinged with yellow proximally. There is a row of three yellow-ish spots on the discocellular bar (Pequin, 2021). Hindwings The hindwing is evenly rounded and costally short. The distal border extends to the black coloured cross-vein and has there some diffuse white scaling. There is sometimes a subapical spot. The border is restricted to the fringes posteriorly and is more or less interrupted at the veins. The base of the hindmargin on the hindwing is white coloured and anteriorly more or less deeply suffused with sulphur-yellow. The fourth and fifth submarignal spots are large and triangular shaped (Pequin, 2021).
Female
The females generally have a different underside wing surface than the males, by being darker with broader margins on both wings (D'Abrera, 1982). The forewing upper side has a broader black coloured distal and costal area than males. The white area is tinged with yellow and there are three very small yellowish spots. The hindwing is tinged with yellow and the black marginal is wider than in the male. The underside wing surface is as in the male (Pequin, 2021).
Subspecies and variation
Five subspecies are described, of which three subspecies are found in Papua. Delias catisa is a variable species, with sometimes an orange, yellow or white forewing colouration (Pequin, 2021).