MORPHOLOGY
External characteristics
Male
Forewings: The forewing underside is white coloured, except for the apical, costal and marginal black border (Yata and Morishita, 1979). Hindwings The hindwing underside has a basal red coloured marking (Yata and Morishita, 1979).
Female
The markings on the wings of females are very variable, with sometimes the entire forewing upper side being blackened. The marginal border, particularly the one on the hindwing, is narrower. The hindwing underside is paler coloured, with the submarginal band obscure (Yata and Morishita, 1979).
Subspecies and variation
Two subspecies are described (Yata and Morishita, 1979). A dark form of ssp. autothisbe occurs, next to the usual form, in Java. Ssp. orientalis differs from the nominate species by its smaller size and has on the wing surfaces narrower black margins (D'Abrera, 1982). Ssp. albifera has the underside wing surface entirely white (Yata and Morishita, 1979).