About Charaxes psaphon Westwood, 1848
This description covers two subspecies of Charaxes psaphon Westwood, 1848: Charaxes psaphon psaphon and Charaxes psaphon imna.
For Charaxes psaphon psaphon: The male has dark fulvous-red upper wings. The forewing's outer half is purpurescent-black, forming a broad marginal band with an erect, sinuous inner edge; it also has a duplex black discocellular mark and very indistinct, slender blackish discoidal streaks. The hindwing has a very broad apical and marginal band that sinuously tapers toward the rear, ending in two small anal spots marked with white; a short, sinuous black streak from the costa lies adjacent to the band. The underside is fulvous-brown, washed with purplish-grey. Both wings are crossed by three basal and two discal zigzag black lines with pale borders. The forewing additionally has a submarginal fascia made up of more or less defined small blackish dentate inner spots and outwardly diffused pearly-white dentate lunules. The hindwing additionally has a submarginal darker blackish-grey lunular fascia, and an outer series of small pearly-white dentate spots tipped with black. The female has deep fulvous-yellow upper wings. The forewing has a transverse medial discal purplish-white band, which shows the underside's discal sinuous line via semi-transparency; the band is edged inwardly by a broken black line that is more or less inwardly diffused toward the front. The wing's outer border is broadly black, with a sinuous inner edge, and bears a slight fulvous lunular posterior inner streak. The hindwing has a short medial discal purplish-white band edged inwardly by a slender black sinuous line; it has a broad submarginal black band matching the male's, but the band is broken and spotty toward the rear, with a distinct white lunule on each section between all veins, and the anal spot also has blue speckles. The underside is olivescent fulvous-brown, darkest at the base and outer edge, and washed with purplish-grey; all transverse markings match those of the male. The subbasal interspace is slightly, and the medial discal interspace distinctly, fulvous-white or pale fulvous-yellow.
The body of Charaxes psaphon psaphon is entirely dark fulvous-red; palpi are blackish on the upper side, white beneath; pectus is fulvous-white; legs are dark fulvous-red above, whitish beneath; fore-tarsi are fulvous-white; antennae are black; eyes are dark red.
For Charaxes psaphon imna: The male has somewhat paler fulvous-red upper wings than the closely related Charaxes psaphon psaphon. The forewing's black marginal band is slightly narrower, and the discocellular streak is more clearly defined. The hindwing's black band is comparatively narrower at the apex, and broken into two or three spots toward the rear, in addition to the white-centered anal spots; the slender costal streak is also further from the apical portion of the band than in Charaxes psaphon psaphon. The underside is paler fulvous-brown than in Charaxes psaphon psaphon; markings are similar, but have a more generally uniform tint across the wing; the sinuous transverse lines and fascias are much less defined. The female has upper wings similar to those of Charaxes psaphon psaphon, with a somewhat paler fulvous color. The forewing's white band is comparatively narrower, and its inner black edging is less sharply defined. The hindwing is also similar to Charaxes psaphon psaphon, but its black macular band is somewhat narrower. The underside is similar to Charaxes psaphon psaphon, but paler, and the transverse sinuous markings are less defined.
