Mycalesis patnia

In Nawalakanda, Rathnapura, Sri Lanka

Upperside: The male has a dark umber-brown ground colour slightly suffused with ochraceous. Forewings and hindwings with bright ochraceous-yellow, slender sub-terminal and terminal lines; cilia pale brown. Forewing with a large median and a much smaller subapical white-centred black ocellus, each with an orange-yellow iris, the upper portion of the iris round the median ocellus very broad, the lower incomplete and a more or less triangular orange-yellow discal patch. Hindwing uniform, with two very small fulvous-ringed black ocelli.[4]

Underside of male deep ochraceous yellow, subterminal and terminal line as on the upperside; forewing and hindwing crossed near base by a darker ochraceous-yellow line, followed by a silvery discal band, beyond which there are two ocelli as on the upperside, but each encircled also by an outer silvery ring; and on the hindwing a curved series of seven similar ocelli having a silvery band bordering them on both sides, the third and fourth ocelli from tornus together and the apical ocellus by itself placed on a brighter ochraceous patch encircled with black. Antennae, head, thorax and abdomen brown, somewhat ochraceous beneath. Sex-mark is present in one morph.[4]

The female is similar to the male but more strongly suffused with ochraceous on the upperside; the orange-yellow patch on the forewing larger, spreading to the base of the wing and no ocelli on the hindwing. Underside as in the male, but of a brighter ochraceous yellow; basal area of both forewing and hindwing crossed by two darker yellow bands, and the discoidal cell of the forewing with an interior loop of the same colour.[4][5]

The southern Indian race M. p. junonia[6] is identical to the nominate race from Sri Lanka but on the upperside is a duller brown; the median ocellus on the forewing encircled with pure white; no discal patch, or merely faint traces of one. Underside: markings similar to those in M. p. patnia, but altogether of a duller and browner shade, without any general ochraceous tint, a large bright ochraceous spot posteriorly on the hindwing in the male. The median ocellus on the forewing broadly encircled with white. Male sex-marks are seen in one morph.[4]

It has a wingspan of 42–54 mm.

• Life cycle
• 
  Egg
• 
  Larva (first instar)
• 
  Larva (later instar)
• 
  Larva (later instar)
• 
  Larva (final instar)
• 
  Pupation
• 
  Chrysalis (dorsal view)
• 
  Chrysalis (ventral view)
• 
  Chrysalis (lateral view)
• 
  Chrysalis (lateral view)
• 
  Imago (side view)
• 
  Imago (dorsal view)
• 
  Open wing