''Charaxes marmax'', the yellow rajah, is a butterfly found in India that belongs to the rajahs and nawabs group, that is, the

Charaxinae __NOTOC__ The Charaxinae, the leafwings, are a nymphalid subfamily of butterflies that includes about 400 species, inhabiting mainly the tropics, although some species extend into temperate regions in North America, Europe, China, and southern ...

group of the

brush-footed butterflies The Nymphalidae are the largest family of butterflies, with more than 6,000 species distributed throughout most of the world. Belonging to the superfamily Papilionoidea, they are usually medium-sized to large butterflies. Most species have ...

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. Forewing: the short discal band very broad, continued as a series of lunules in the interspaces to vein 1: the postdiscal lunular line slender above, not joined onto the black on the termen, and sometimes black, sometimes chestnut-coloured; the black on the margin formed into a subterminal series of large black inwardly conical spots, the termen beyond dusky ochraceous. Hindwing: the subterminal row of black spots with white central transverse very short lines. Underside much as in the male, but the slate-black lunules on the hindwing form a broad obliquely placed line; the subterminal series of white spots larger and more conspicuous both on forewing and hindwing; upper tail spatulate, much longer than in male.

Distribution

Northeastern India (Sikkim, Assam),

Bhutan Bhutan, officially the Kingdom of Bhutan, is a landlocked country in South Asia, in the Eastern Himalayas between China to the north and northwest and India to the south and southeast. With a population of over 727,145 and a territory of , ...

and

Burma Myanmar, officially the Republic of the Union of Myanmar; and also referred to as Burma (the official English name until 1989), is a country in northwest Southeast Asia. It is the largest country by area in Mainland Southeast Asia and ha ...

Peninsular Malaya Peninsular Malaysia, historically known as Malaya and also known as West Malaysia or the Malaysian Peninsula, is the western part of Malaysia that comprises the southern part of the Malay Peninsula on Mainland Southeast Asia and the nearby isla ...

and

Indochina Mainland Southeast Asia (historically known as Indochina and the Indochinese Peninsula) is the continental portion of Southeast Asia. It lies east of the Indian subcontinent and south of Mainland China and is bordered by the Indian Ocean to th ...

Notes

Other references

* marmax Butterflies of Malaysia Butterflies of Indochina Butterflies described in 1848 Taxa named by John O. Westwood {{Charaxinae-stub

Description

Distribution

See also

Notes

Other references