Charaxes marmax

Charaxes marmax, the yellow rajah, is a butterfly found in India that belongs to the rajahs and nawabs group, that is, the Charaxinae group of the brush-footed butterflies family.

Description

The male has the ground colour of the upperside rich ochraceous tawny. Forewing has a black subcostal spot at the discocellulars and a pale chestnut line on either side of them; a very short slightly curved discal narrow band from vein 7 to vein 5, a postdiscal broad oblique band from costa to vein 6, and a broad terminal band from apex to vein 1, jet-black; the extreme margin of the termen touched interruptedly with fulvous tawny; the postdiscal band continued as a curved lunular narrow chestnut band to vein 1, and the black at apex continued along the costa, joining the postdiscal band above. Hindwing: costal margin broadly pale yellow, terminal third of wing of a darker tawny shade than the base, a short discal broken black line from costa to vein 6; a subterminal slightly curved series of outwardly pointed black spots, increasing in size to interspace 6, the tornal two centred with white; the terminal margin somewhat broadly dark reddish brown. Underside bright ochraceous yellow. Forewings and hindwings crossed by the usual sinuous black lines, the postdiscal line outwardly lunular. Forewing: the discocellulars defined by dark lines, the apex with two short white streaks continued as a line of obscure white dots to interspace 1. Hindwing: the space between base of wing and subbasal dark line and between the median two dark lines darker ochraceous than the ground colour; the postdiscal lunular line with a dark shade beyond, traversed by a series of heavy slate-black lunules, and white, black-tipped obscure dots; the terminal reddish-brown band as on the upperside. Antennae black annulated with white; head, thorax and abdomen tawny; beneath paler, the palpi white.

The female is similar but the ground colour on the disc paler.