MORPHOLOGY
External characteristics
Male
Wingspan (mm): 35 (Braby, 2004).
Forewings: The forewing apex is rounded. The forewing upper side has a black coloured costal border, which is broad and clearly defined. The forewing underside has a black coloured marginal border. The upper side wing surface is glossy yellow coloured. The sex band is very broad (Yata and Morishita, 1979). Hindwings The hindwing upper side has a black coloured marginal border. The hindwing underside has two cell spots and the wing surface is not black dusted (Yata and Morishita, 1979).
Female Wingspan (mm):35 (Braby, 2004).
The female has on the hindwing underside a whitish gloss (Yata and Morishita, 1979).
Subspecies and variation
Eleven or twelve (D'Abrera, 1982) to Fifteen (Yata and Morishita, 1979) subspecies are described, of which four subspecies are found in Philippines; D'Abrera suspects that it is possible that ssp. zita and ssp. lorquini are only seasonal forms of the same subspecies as they are sympatric (D'Abrera, 1982). There is some seasonal variation in this species. The ssp. alitha from Mindanao has on the forewing upper side a black coloured cilia and border along the hind margin. Ssp. zita has a yellow coloured cilia, and the border along hind margin on the forewing and the border on the hindwing are broader than in the other subspecies. Both ssp. loequini and ssp. sankapura have narrower black borders (Yata and Morishita, 1979).