It grows to a length of about 3 centimetres.

The pupa is brown, with darker markings. These may have a metallic silver or gold appearance, and there are four pairs of gold dots on the wings. It is suspended from a cremaster on the underside of foodplant leaf. The pupal duration is about two weeks in summer in Melbourne.

(Photo: courtesy of Ted Cadwallader)

The adult butterflies have a wing span around 5 cms. The adult males and females are similar in appearance. The fore wing above is black with orange-red markings, and has four white dots near the apex, and a white bar running inward from the costa. The hind wing above is orange with three or four blue-centred eyespots arranged along a subterminal line.

(Photo: courtesy of Ian McMillan, Imbil, Queensland)

Beneath, the fore wing is the same as above, except that it is paler in colour. The underside of each hind wing is brown and cream, with a row of faint subterminal eyespots. The wingspan is about 5 cms.

mating pair
(Photo: courtesy of Merlin Crossley)

Note that the adults have only four legs, and have a long proboscis with which they can suck nectar from flowers.

(Photo: courtesy of Bruce Anstee)

The female lays her green eggs singly on a leaf of a food plant. She settles on a leaf, positions herself carefully, then deposits the egg in the centre of the leaf. It is easy to find the eggs once this behaviour is understood. The eggs we have taken have hatched in about three days.

(Photo: courtesy of Fred Swindley)

The whole life cycle is fifty three days in summer in Melbourne. The butterfly is notable for its migrations during late winter and early spring from northern regions on the east coast of Australia towards the south-west, particularly in the Sydney area.

The species occurs from Christmas Island to New Zealand, including