MORPHOLOGY
External characteristics
Male
Forewings: The upper side wing surface is black-ish brown coloured and dusted with yellow. The forewing upper side has two yellow-ish subapical dots, three or four submarginal dots and a black-ish brown fringe. The forewing underside is brown-ish black coloured, with a white dusted inner margin. There are three small yellow subapical spots and three smaller submarginal spots (Pequin, 2021). Hindwings The hindwing upper side is strongly dusted with yellow and the inner margin and proximal two-third of the costa are yellow-ish white. There are short marginal streaks or dots between the veins, which break up the narrow black marginal border. The hindwing underside has a narrow band and the wing surface has a purple-ish tinge. There is a small yellow basal costal spot and the costa is white coloured. Further, there is a row of six pale yellow submarginal spots (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).
Subspecies and variation
No subspecies. Some specimen lack the yellow dusting on the wings and the upper side wing surface is grey-black with creamy-white markings. There are two female forms. The first form, f. fuliginosus, is similar to a male, but has on the upper side wing surface slight yellow dusting, has more distinct dots on the forewing and a postdiscal shadowy band on both sides. The hindwing is as in the male. The second form, f. ochraceus, has a more defined shadowy postdiscal band and the black discoidal spot on the forewing is rendered more distinct. The forewing underside has a distinct yellow-white postdiscal area and there is a large spot in the cell, while the hindwing is as in the typical female (Pequin, 2021).