MORPHOLOGY
External characteristics
Male
Wingspan (mm): 33 (Braby, 2004), 40 - 50 (279).
Forewings: Male sex brand is lacking. The upper side wing surface has a black coloured border of which the inner margin is uniformly excavated. The forewing underside lacks the black cellspot (Yata and Morishita, 1979). Hindwings The hindwing underside has a submarginal series of spots (Yata and Morishita, 1979).
Female Wingspan (mm):36 (Braby, 2004).
Subspecies and variation
Seven subspecies are described. Both sexes of ssp. rubella are smaller in size than ssp. drona. The specimen of ssp. drona are the only one in the genus with the androconial brand near the base of the costa of the forewing (D'Abrera, 1982). There is seasonal variation; the dry season form has a more anglulate wing contour, less developed black vordering on the upper side wing surface, better developed spots on the underside wing surface, the celia and the underside wing surface are tinged with pink. The upper side wing surface of ssp. drona is more weakly dusted in black, has narrower borders and better developed submarginal spots on the forewing underside (Yata and Morishita, 1979).