MORPHOLOGY

External characteristics

Male
Forewing length (mm): 49-59. Wingspan (mm): 80-98.
Forewings: Upperside black, densely speckled with green scales in basal half, less so in outer third, brilliant, green band across wing from outer half of hind margin to about middle of costa, width variable, at vein 3 1/3 to more than half length of vein 3; underside, basal 3/5 of wing dark brown, lightly speckled with golden scales, outer 2/5 pale rosy-brown with dark veins and dark lines running from the dark basal area to the outer margin. Hindwings crenulate with long spatulate tail at end of vein 4; upperside black, with green band from inner margin or vein 1, just above tornus, to vein 7 or just beyond it, always entering upper part of cell, basally of this band wing surface densely speckled with green scales, but not so or less in space 7, outer half of wing black, speckled with green along green band, series of crescent greenish submarginal spots in space 2-6, almost touching each other, red spot in space 1b at tornus and reddish or whitish submarginal spot in space 7; underside black, rather inconspicuously speckled with golden scales in basal half, submarginally a grayish-brown band from space 2 to 6, with red and blue scales towards outer margin, white and red submarginal spot in space 7.

Female
Forewing length (mm): 52-58. Wingspan (mm):84-107.
Similar to male, but on hindwing dirty red mark on tornus and prominent rosy and white submarginal spot in spaces 6 and 7.

Subspecies and variation

As described above there is some variation in the width of the green bands. This is mainly individual, wider and narrower bands being found in the same population. Two subspecies have been distinguished, ssp. angustatus in Palawan and ssp. daedalus throughout the rest of the Philippines, but the differences are rather inconspicuous.

Similar species

It is larger than the rather similar P. palinurus. P. daedalus comes in size between P. blumei and P. palinurus.
Apparently, the three allopatric species are closely related.

_{source: Jan Moonen, peronal communication 2020}