The Caterpillars are inclined to shelter under foodplant leaves, and are always attended by :

The pupa is smooth with a flattened abdomen, and is variously green or brown or a mottled combination of both, with a white dorsal line on the thorax. Its length is about 1 cm. The pupation occurs gregariously on stems or leaves of the foodplant.

On top, the male adults are purple.

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

The females are brown with a purple sheen, and have some pale-edged dark spots around the hindwing margin.

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

Underneath, both sexes are fawn with arcs of light and dark dashes. The hindwings have a black spot by the tornus. The butterflies have a wing span of about 2.5 cms.

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

The eggs are round, white, and flattened. They are laid in groups of about 50 on young shoots of as foodplant.

The species occurs in New Guinea and in the tropical north of Australia, including :

Further reading :

Michael F. Braby,
Butterflies of Australia, CSIRO Publishing, Melbourne 2000, vol. 2, pp. 751-752.

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