MORPHOLOGY
External characteristics
Male
Forewings: The forewing underside has a black colouration with a white inner margin. There is a submarginal row of five small white spots (Pequin, 2021). Hindwings The hindwing underside is black and has a heavy red submarginal line formed of five bars conncected slightly at the veins by some white scaling. There is a short red basal stripe (Pequin, 2021).
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). The forewing upper side has a reduced white area, with a yellow tinge. There is a submarginal row of five yellowish white dots. The hindwing upper side has a wider black border in females and the blue-ish white area is tinged with yellow distally (Pequin, 2021).
Subspecies and variation
Two subspecies are described. The subspecies D. caroli f. flava differs from the nominate subspecies, by having sulphur yellow coloured markings on the hindwing, instead of red (Pequin, 2021).