MORPHOLOGY
External characteristics
Male
Forewing length (mm): 40 (Kirton, 2018). Wingspan (mm): 76 - 101 (Kirby and Bowdler Sharpe, 1897).
Forewings: Forewing is sharply pointed. The upper side wing surface is black and white coloured, the basal half of the forewing is extensively white (Kirton, 2018). Hindwings The hindwing is extensively white (Kirton, 2018; Kirby and Bowdler Sharpe, 1897). The hindwing underside is black coloured (Kirby and Bowdler Sharpe, 1897) and has broad yellow coloured streaks and spots (Kirton, 2018).
Female Wingspan (mm):76 - 101 (Kirby and Bowdler Sharpe, 1897) .
The females have narrower white areas (Kirton, 2018). The upper side wing surface is black-ish brown. The hindwing underside has yellow markings (Kirby and Bowdler Sharpe, 1897).
Subspecies and variation
Four or five subspecies are described; D'Abrera (D'Abrera, 1982) suspects that ssp. thestylis and ssp. jugurtha are the same subspecies. Specimen from ssp. thestylis are subject to season variation, especially females. The dry season form of ssp. formosana is small and has a pale yellow underside wing colouration. The upper side wing surface of ssp. formosana and ssp. hainanensis is similar, but the underside wing surface of the latter subspecies has a deeper black outline of its veins and apical areas. The females of ssp. malaccana are similar to those of ssp. jugurtha, but ssp. malaccana has a paler yellow anal spot on the hindwing underside and has a narrower black cell stripe on the hindwing underside (D'Abrera, 1982).