MORPHOLOGY
External characteristics
Male
Wingspan (mm): 60 (Grose Smith And Kirby, 1892).
Forewings: The upper side wing surface is white coloured and bordered with a broad black band. The yellow colourationon the forewing underside shines through its upper side. The costal margin is narrow and black coloured. There are four grey-ish white patches. The forewing underside has the basal half bright orange-yellow coloured. The costa is narrow and black coloured with a row of five subapical lunular yellow spots (Grose Smith And Kirby, 1892). Hindwings The hindwing underside is black coloured, with a grey-ish white disc on the costa. There is a asubbasal grey-ish white streak below the costal nervure, which is tinged with yellow scales towards the base (Grose Smith And Kirby, 1892).
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).
Subspecies and variation
Two subspecies are described. Ssp. henki does have the white costal patch on its hindwing underside, but in a reduced form (Pequin, 2021).