MORPHOLOGY
External characteristics
Male
Forewing length (mm): 18.5 - 20.5 (Yata, 1991).
Forewings: The forewing upper side has black coloured borders, which do not extend along the hind margin. The underside wing surface has a well developed submarginal series of spots and the spots on the forewing are clearly separated (Yata and Morishita, 1979).
Female
Forewing length (mm): 17 - 21 (Yata, 1991).
The female is almost completely black coloured on the upper side wing surface, leaving a patch of ground-colour in the centre (Yata and Morishita, 1979).
Subspecies and variation
Two (Yata & Morishita,1979), Three or four (D'Abrera, 1821) subspecies are described; D'Abrera (D'Abrera, 1821) suspects that ssp. exophthalma and ssp. poetelia are the same subspecies. Females of ssp. toalarum have a distal margin that is far from the apex of the cell on the forewing, and extends on the hindwing to the cell wall (D'Abrera, 1821). The female of ssp. exophthalma is completely black on the upper side wingsurface (Yata & Morishita,1979).