The pupa is brown with silver markings, and is suspended head downward by a cremaster. Its length is about 2 cms.

(Specimen: courtesy of the Macleay Museum, University of Sydney)

The adult butterflies of this species are black, fading somewhat towards the wing margins, and have arcs of white spots at each forewing apex, and around each hindwing termen. The undersides are similar. The females have a white stripe on the underside of each forewing along the inner margin. The wingspan is about 8 cms.

underside
(Specimen: courtesy of the Macleay Museum, University of Sydney)

The eggs are green and bullet-shaped, with a height of about 1.5 mm. They are laid singly on the underside of young leaves and on the tendrils of a food plant.

Various subspecies occur in New Guinea and adjacent islands. The subspecies :

and the caterpillars show some differences between these subspecies, so some may actually be separate species.

Further reading :

Trevor Lambkin,
The life history of Euploea alcathoe monilifera (Moore) and its relationship to E. a. eichorni Staudinger (Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae: Danainae), The Australian Entomologist, Volume 28, Part 4 (December 2001), pp. 129-136.

Trevor Lambkin,
Euploea alcathoe misenus Miskin (Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae) in Torres Strait, Queensland, The Australian Entomologist, Volume 32, Part 4 (December, 2005), pp. 145-153.

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