Charaxes affinis

Charaxes affinis is a butterfly in the family Nymphalidae. It was described by Arthur Gardiner Butler in 1866. It is found in the Indomalayan realm.

Description

Charaxes affinis is a large, sexually dimorphic butterfly (wingspan 66-75mm). The upperside of the male is orange-brown with a broad dark brown or black marginal band on the forewings, and a submarginal line of brown or black spots and a small tail on the hindwings. Its patterns and colours are extremely variable.

Technical description

The body of both male and female Charaxes affinis, especially the thorax, are less bright tawny orange than the wings, more ochre-coloured.

Length of forewing: male 38–44 mm, female 50–53 mm.

Males' wings are bright tawny orange, with a largely buff-coloured abdominal fold. Forewings are rather falcate, outer edge either nearly entire, or denticulate; posterior half or two-thirds of bar D obsolete; median bars SC5—R2 heavy, forming generally triangular patches which are more or less fused with the black outer area, but the second stands sometimes quite isolated, median bar R3—M1 seldom clearly marked above, about 6mm distant from origin of M1 (as on underside); black postdisco-marginal area much narrower behind than in front, measuring about 4 mm at SM2; discal bar M2—SM2 present, either heavy and separated from black border of the wing by a small tawny orange spot between veins, or feeble and then more or less completely isolated (in all specimens from North Celebes?), bar M1—M2 stands also often partly separated from the black border.