Plane

Appearance

Male. Upperside dark fuliginous-brown. Forewing without markings. lllndwing with the tail, anal lobe, and a small anal patch dull ochreous; a small indistinct spot on the anal lobe. Underside pale ochreous-brown. Forewing, a black spot at the base of the cell, a dark brown, broad, outwardly curved band with irregular ochreous edges, from the costal nervure to a little below the median vein, crossing the cell somewhat beyond its middle, with pale indications of its continuation hindwards, a pale brown line, edged on both sides with ochreous at the end of the cell; a dark brown, broad discal band, from the costa to a little below the sub-median vein, composed of conjoined squarish spots, the first four outwardly oblique, the others commencing a little inwards nearly straight down the wing, narrowing gradually hindwards; indications of a pale brown, sub-marginal, double series of lunular marks. Hindwing with a basal blackish-brown spot, a larger one immediately below the costal vein, two smaller ones in a line below it, two conjoined spots closing the cell, a discal very irregular band, commencing from the costal vein where there is a large square blackish-brown spot attached to it below, half outwards is a similar spot, with a smaller blackish-brown spot attached to its lower side half outwards; these are followed by a curiously formed series of five small paler spots, the first well outside, a parallel pair below it and another similar pair below and inwards; then there is an indistinct pair below these joined on the inner side to a heart-shaped pale spot with brown edges, with a curving sinuous brown line attached, which bends inwards and upwards near the abdominal margin at its middle and runs up it to the base in a series of indistinct spots, all edged with ochreous; a sub-terminal series of lunules enclosing two blackish spots with scattered metallic greenish scales and a prominent black spot on the anal lobe, all of which vary much in different examples, and are sometimes obscure. Antennse black, paler on the underside, with white dots; head and body above and below concolorous with the wings.

Female. Upperside brown, with a bronzy gloss in certain lights, a pure white patch divided by the brown veins, on the lower end of the hindwing, margined outwardly with a blackish anteciliary line, containing a large black round spot at the base of the tail on the outer side and another smaller and less distinct spot on the inner side, a black spot on the anal lobe. Underside white, bauds and spots paler than in the male, but similarly disposed.— Charles Swinhoe, Lepidoptera Indica. Vol. IX

Naming

The subspecies are:
⤷ ''B. p. phocides'' Sikkim - Myanmar, South Yunnan
⤷ ''B. p. fumata'' Sulawesi, Talaud, Banggai, Sula
⤷ ''B. p. moorei'' Fruhstorfer, 1904 Sri Lanka, south India
─⟶ "Male and female, similar to the nominate subspecies above and below in both sexes, except that on the upperside of the hindwing there is a narrow, terminal blue-green band from near the apex to vein 2."
⤷ ''B. p. phocas'' Staudinger, 1889 Palawan
⤷ ''B. p. chromis'' Bismarck Archipelago, Solomons
⤷ ''B. p. isabella'' Cape York - Townsvill
⤷ ''B. p. origenes'' Fruhstorfer, 1912 Philippines

Behavior

The larva feeds on ''Salacia''.