They feed particularly on young shoots of the foodplant. When not feeding, they rest with the thorax lifted and the head curled underneath.
The pupa is green or brown with a yellow line along each side. Its length is about 1.5 cms. It is formed hanging obliquely, head downward, from the underside of a foodplant leaf.
Male
(Specimen: courtesy of the Macleay Museum, University of Sydney)
The wings of the male and female adult butterflies are different.
The males are purple with brown veins and dark wingtips. The forewings have several white spots. The hindwings each have an indistinct orange band.
The females are brown, shading to orange at the base of each wing, and with white spots on the forewings. There is an orange band across each hindwing.
Male: underside
(Specimen: courtesy of the Macleay Museum, University of Sydney)
The undersides are similar to the upper surfaces but suffused with white . The wingspan of the butterflies is about 5 cms.
The eggs are pale cream, and elongate. Their height is about 0.7 mm. They are laid singly in a crevice, such as a leaf axil, of a foodplant.
The species is found throughout south-east Asia, from Burma to the Solomons. In Australia, it is confined to the northern tropics, with two subspecies:
Further reading :
Michael F. Braby,
Butterflies of Australia,
CSIRO Publishing, Melbourne 2000, vol. 2, pp. 587-588.
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