although they have also been found on

Male
(Specimen: courtesy of The Australian Museum)

The upper surfaces of the wings of the male butterflies are white.

Female
(Specimen: courtesy of The Australian Museum)

The females have white wings with black edges. The black apical area of the fore wings contains white spots.

Male underside
(Photo: courtesy of Bryn Pickering, Binibara, Northern Territory)

The undersides of the fore wings are like the upper surfaces, but the undersides of the hind wings are yellow. The wingspan is about 5 cms.

Female underside
(Photo: courtesy of Bryn Pickering, Binibara, Northern Territory)

The species has been found as various subspecies across south-east Asia, including

and as the subspecies albina in Australia in

Further reading :

Jean-Baptiste Alphonse Dechauffour de Boisduval,
Species Général des Lépidoptéres,
Histoire naturelle des insectes,
Volume 1 (1836), pp. 480-481, No 62.

Michael F. Braby,
Butterflies of Australia,
CSIRO Publishing, Melbourne 2000, vol. 1, p. 328.

previous caterpillar

Australian butterflies

Australian Lepidoptera

Australian moths

next caterpillar

(updated 1 January 2012, 3 February 2026)