About Charaxes jasius epijasius Reiche, 1849
Charaxes jasius is a medium to large butterfly. Males usually have a wingspan of 76–83 mm, while females are larger; in Morocco, males may reach 80–100 mm wingspan, and females grow even larger there. Each hindwing has two tails, a trait characteristic of most species in the genus Charaxes. The spring seasonal brood is smaller in size than the second and sometimes third annual broods. In the spring brood, the two hindwing tails tend to curve slightly toward each other, resembling a pincer; this curvature is less pronounced in later broods, which have slightly longer, straighter tails.
The upperside of the wings has a dark brownish-black ground colour, with a changeable purplish sheen visible when viewed from different angles. The forewing has faint darker discal bars and orange postdiscal spots; the hindwing has a whitish patch near the costal border, dusted with brownish scales. The outer border of both wings is deep orange-ochreous, divided by veins covered in black scales. The hindwing has small submarginal blue spots, which are often vestigial and more developed in females. There is some natural variation in the intensity of the ground colour, and in how developed the postdiscal orange spots are.
The underside of the wings has a very characteristic mosaic appearance, broadly similar to that of many related species. It is crisscrossed by a jumble of bands and patches in shades of brown, reddish, greyish and blackish, all edged with a white filigree. Beyond the inner mosaic section, a complete white discal band stretches across both the forewing and hindwing. The outer orange marginal coloration found on the upperside is also present on the underside. Females match the appearance of males but are larger in size.
This species occurs along the European Mediterranean coast from western Portugal to the coastal islands of Greece, with the exception of the northern Adriatic sea coast. Its range extends from central and southern Italian Peninsula to Istria, and along the coastline of southern Anatolia, including the islands of Samos, Ikaria and Rhodes. It can also be found on the Balearic Islands, Corsica, Sardinia, Corfu and Crete. Inland, it occurs locally in Spain, from Huelva and Málaga to Madrid and Salamanca. In France, it has isolated inland populations ranging from Provence to Lozère, Ardèche and Aveyron. Further along the Eastern Mediterranean coast, it is found in Turkey, Lebanon, and Israel, and continues along most of the North African coast to the northwestern Atlantic coast of Morocco, reaching as far as the area around coastal Tiznit. In Morocco, it ventures inland in just a few locations, up to 2,400 metres above sea level.
Its typical habitat in the Mediterranean Basin is maquis shrubland, found up to 700–800 metres above sea level. This habitat consists of thick, mixed scrub forests, often on hillsides, in hot and dry regions. This butterfly is found wherever its larval host plants grow in abundance.
Charaxes jasius is bivoltine or trivoltine, meaning it has two or three generations per year, depending on latitude and altitude. Typically, the first set of eggs is laid in May–June, and the second in mid August to mid October. Caterpillars from the second egg batch overwinter in the larval stage, and pupate the following spring. Females lay eggs on the upper surface of host plant leaves, depositing no more than one egg per leaf.
The caterpillar is green, cylindrical, and reaches up to 50 millimetres (2.0 in) long. It has rings of raised yellow-white spots across its body, yellow lateral lines along its sides, and two yellow ocelli on its back. The head bears four horns that face backwards. The caterpillar builds a leaf tent with silken threads, and returns to this tent after feeding on surrounding leaves. When fully mature, the caterpillar hangs from a twig and pupates. The pupa resembles a ripening fruit: it is green at first, and turns brown as the adult butterfly (imago) develops inside it. After a period ranging from two weeks to one month, the pupal case opens to release the adult butterfly.
The preferred larval foodplant is the Strawberry Tree (Arbutus unedo). Secondary or possibly accidental larval host choices are known to include a few Osyris species.
