It also pupates gregariously. The pupa is yellow with six black points and has a length of about 2.5 cms.
male
Female
(Specimens: courtesy of the
The Australian Museum)
The upper surfaces of the wings of the adult butterfly are white with a black band around the edge, and some white spots near the wingtip. The black margin is rather wider in the female.
(Photo: courtesy of Neil Hewett , Cooper Creek Wildernes)
The undersides of the forewings are the same as above, but the undersides of the hind wings are white suffusing to yellow at the base, and they have a border of concentric bands of yellow, scarlet and black. The butterfly has a wingspan of about 6 cms.
It is found as several subspecies in New Guinea, and in Australia as the subspecies :
