MORPHOLOGY
External characteristics
Male
Forewing length (mm): 35 (Kirton, 2018). Wingspan (mm): 60 - 70 (Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department, 2022).
Forewings: The upper side wing surface is black coloured with white markings (Kirton, 2018). Hindwings The hindwing underside has a basal red coloured area. The hindwing upper side has a pale yellow coloured inner patch (Yata and Morishita, 1979).
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
26 subspecies are described. These ssp. are very difficult to distinguish from each other (Pequin, 2021). There is geographical variation, with the subspecies varying from whitened colouration to completely black specimen (Yata and Morishita, 1979).