MORPHOLOGY

External characteristics

Male
Forewing length (mm): 49. Wingspan (mm): 78.
Forewings: Upperside dark violet blue, paler blue band curves from just before tornus to just before middle of front margin, the inner edge touching the origin of vein 3, three pale blue subapical spots; underside basal quarter pale blue, followed by narrow, curved dark blue band from well before tornus to before middle of front margin, again followed by a broad dark blue band from just before tornus to middle of front margin enclosing dark mark at end cell; again a broad dark blue band followed by a much paler apical quarter with a large pale blue subapical band. Hindwings Slightly crenulate, extended into a short tail at the end of vein 4; upperside dark violet blue, pale blue band from costa to half wing, tail pale blue; underside largely pale blue, dark spotted bands in median area, orange spot in middle of space 1b, dirty orange color in submarginal area from space 1b to space 4 or 5.

Female
Forewing length (mm): 54. Wingspan (mm):87.
Forewing, upperside turquoise-blue in basal third, followed by pale turquoise band like the pale blue band in male, apical half of wing very dark blue with three well-marked turquoise subapical spots; underside turquoise area much enlarged, covering 2/3 of wing, subapical spots large, almost whitish. Hindwing shaped as in male; upperside dark turquoise-blue in basal third, broad central turquoise band, narrower dark, almost black, marginal band, turquoise at tornus and tail; underside most of wing turquoise, paler toward wing base and upper part outer margin, series of black submarginal and median spots, large orange patch in middle of space 1b and yellowish internervular patches in spaces 1b to 5.

Subspecies and variation

No variation recorded.

Similar species

Famous mimic of Alcides agathrysus, a day-flying moth of the family Uraniidae, said to be poisonous. The moth has a much larger distribution than P. laglaizei. The moth bears an orange patch on the underside of the abdomen, the butterfly achieves the same effect with the orange patches on the underside of the hindwing as described above. Remarkably, while the moth is the model, its flight is almost exactly as the flight of its mimic.

_{source: Jan Moonen, peronal communication 2020}