Charaxes ocellatus is a butterfly belonging to the family Nymphalidae. It was first described by Hans Fruhstorfer in 1896 and is endemic to the Lesser Sunda Islands in the Australasian realm, near the Wallace line.[2]
Charaxes ocellatus is characterized by its large size, with forewings that have a concave outer edge and hindwings that bear two tails. The upper side of the wings is light brown in the basal part and dark in the distal part, separated by a white bar on the forewings that extends from the middle of the costal margin to the inner edge near the anal angle. The hindwings are also light brown and decorated with a sub marginal line of dark brown ocelli.
Both males and females have a creamy white underside, a tawny body, and a somewhat olivaceous thorax. Females are similar to males but are somewhat larger. The butterfly has a forewing that is slightly darker in the basal half, and a tail that is somewhat longer. The forewing length is 38–40 mm in males and 44–50 mm in females.
General description of wings: Above chestnut-tawny, forewing darker than hindwing, outer region of the forewing and postdisco-submarginal patches of hindwing black. Forewing falcate, crossed by an oblique discal band of pure white patches, the band not reaching SM2, widest in front, bordered proximally by tie median bars R2-SM2 and bar D, median bars SC2-R2 within the band, bars R1-M2 arched, patch M2-SM2 very much smaller than the one before it; one or two whitish or pinkish buff postdiscal spots between SC4 and R1 about halfway between band and apex, the second spot mostly absent, sometimes both scarcely traceable; internervular folds with buffish longitudinal lines at the margin; fringe white except at veins.
Hindwing: Median series of bars obliquely curved from C to R3 then again from R3 to (SM1), forming an angle upon R2, bars M2-SM2 forming an acute angle upon (SM1) pointing basad, often reaching the angle which is formed by the respective submedian bars and which means distad; basal and subbasal costal bars present; a longitudinal line upon fold SM2-SM3 as in orilus; SM2 mostly chocolate in middle; discal interspaces filled up by a white band which is more or less widely separated from the discal lunules by rather welldefined continuous patches of isabella colour; discal and postdiscal bars luniform, the former not prominent, partly obsolete, separated from the postdiscal ones creamy lunules which are somewhat thicker than the discal bars; postdiscal bars chestnut, bars C-SC2 and R1-R2 are always patch-like, while bar R3-M1 and mostly also bar SC2-R1 are thin; submarginal white dots present, but spot R3-M1 sometimes inconspicuous owing to the respective interspace between the black and blue submargiual dot and postdiscal bar being much shaded with cream colour; admarginal interspaces cream-buff, small; admarginal line pale drab: edge of wing greyish between veins; tails pale drab, creamy at tips, both somewhat spaulate upper 9 to 9 1/2 mm long, second slightly curved costad, 7 mm long.
Underside: The underside of the wings is fawn-colour and has basal to median bars that are colored pale chestnut. Each wing also has a heavy basal cell spot.
Forewing: Cell-bar 4 touching M closer to M2 than M1, its shorter costal portion curved, about at right angles to the longer and obliquely placed hinder portion; median bars M2-SM2 very oblique, reaching SM2 8 mm from end, hence median interspace considerably widening behind white band as above, posteriorly bordered by the discal bars, but as the series of bars is almost parallel to margin it recedes costad more and more from band, the interspace is pale drab; discal bars outwardly bordered with creamy scaling which forms generally halfmoons; postdiscal bars represented by patches of variable and different size, patches M1-SM2 black, triangular, the others somewhat chocolate, the submedian ones fused together, but generally incised externally upon (SM1), patches R2-M1 and SC5-R1 much smaller, often also patch R1-R2, outwardly the postdiscal spots bear whitish, triangular dots, or greyish lunules, except the last patch, which is bordered externally with a bluish grey, sometimes M-shaped, patch; admarginal interspaces more or less grey.[3]
This insect was first discovered by W. Doherty in February 1896 at Sambawa and Sumba. The butterfly was also found at Lombak by H. Fruhstorfer, shortly afterward. The name of ocellatus has two or three days' priority over that of sumbanus and hence must be employed to designate the species.
This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain. Charaxes ocellatus is a butterfly belonging to the family Nymphalidae. It was first described by Hans Fruhstorfer in 1896 and is endemic to the Lesser Sunda Islands in the Australasian realm, near the Wallace line.
Charaxes ocellatus is characterized by its large size, with forewings that have a concave outer edge and hindwings that bear two tails. The upper side of the wings is light brown in the basal part and dark in the distal part, separated by a white bar on the forewings that extends from the middle of the costal margin to the inner edge near the anal angle. The hindwings are also light brown and decorated with a sub marginal line of dark brown ocelli.
