MORPHOLOGY
External characteristics
Male
Forewing length (mm): 13.5 - 18 (Yata, 1991). Wingspan (mm): 30 (Braby, 2004).
The antennal club is swollen to form a knob (Yata & Morishita,1979).Forewings: The forewing upper side has an outer black coloured border, which becomes extinct in the inner margin (Yata and Morishita, 1979). Hindwings The hindwing upper side has a very narrow black border, which is often reduced to a series of dots. The hindwing has in males a pale pink-ish brand (Yata and Morishita, 1979).
Female
Forewing length (mm): 15 - 17.5 (Yata, 1991). Wingspan (mm):33 (Braby, 2004).
The female has a paler ground-colour. The upper side is less heavily black dusted. The border on the forewing is barely noticable and on it is the hindwing reduced to marginal vein-spots. The upper side wing surface is ultraviolet reflective (Yata, 1991).
Subspecies and variation
Two subspecies are described. Ssp. smilax shows prominent seasonal variation; the dry season form has narrower black borders on the upper side wing surface and on the underside wing surface better developed spots. The wings of ssp. gracilior are rounder than those of the nominate species (Yata and Morishita, 1979).