MORPHOLOGY
External characteristics
Male
Forewing length (mm): 17 - 20 (Otsuka, Kazuhisa, 2001), 20 (Kirton, 2018). Wingspan (mm): 29 (Braby, 2004).
Forewings: The subapical black spot on the forewing is connected to the black sub apical margin by a narrow black line (D'Abrera, 1982). The wing surface is white coloured (Otsuka, Kazuhisa, 2001). Hindwings The hindwing upper side lacks the black marginal border. The hindwing underside has two conspicuous stripes (Yata and Morishita, 1979), which are green-grey coloured (Kirton, 2018).
Female Wingspan (mm):34 (Braby, 2004).
The wings of females are more rounded (Yata and Morishita, 1979).
Subspecies and variation
Eleven or twelve subspecies are described; D'Abrera (D'Abrera, 1982) suspects that ssp. fumigata and aurispara are the same subspecies. The males of ssp. terentia are bigger than ssp. nina. Specimen from ssp. nicobaria are not really distinguishable from ssp. nina. Ssp. georgi differs from ssp. terentia by the heavier and broader black apical area subapical spot. Similarity between sexes is seen by ssp. lignea and ssp. terentia (D'Abrera, 1982). Ssp. malayana differs from the nominate species in that the subapical dot is smaller and it has on the hindwing underside two rather conspicuous greyish green coloured stripes. The black subapical dot in ssp. fumigata is fairly developed and the underside wing surface is entirely stained. The black subapical dot in ssp. comma elongates along the vein and joins the apical marking (Yata and Morishita, 1979).