Charaxes mars

Charaxes mars, the iron rajah, is a butterfly of the rajahs and nawabs group, i.e. the Charaxinae group of the brush-footed butterflies family. It is endemic to Sulawesi in central Indonesia.^[1] Charaxes mars is a large butterfly with forewings with concave outer edge and hindwings each with a tail. The upper side of the forewings is dark blue and light in the basal part. The hindwings are orange with a submarginal line of dark brown ocelli.

Iron rajah
Male
Female C. m. madensis
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Lepidoptera
Family:	Nymphalidae
Genus:	Charaxes
Species:	C. mars
Binomial name
Charaxes mars Staudinger, 1885
Synonyms
Charaxes mars var. dohertyi Rothschild, 1892 Charaxes madensis Rothschild, 1899

Technical description

For a key to the terms used, see Glossary of entomology terms.

male Tawny colour of upperside of hindwing not reaching in front of R1; black postdisco-submarginal patches all fused together (except dots M2S-M2), patch M1-M2 elongate, vein R3 and outer half of M1 black, tawny admarginal interspaces SC2- R2 faintly indicated; tail shorter than in mars dohertyifemale Unknown. madensis male Unknown. Most likely resembling that of Ch. mars.

female. Allied to Ch.mars. Upperside Forewing: blackish brown, no blue tone, white discal band broader than Ch. mars.^[2]

Races

• Charaxes mars mars (northern Sulawesi)
• Charaxes mars dohertyi Rothschild, 1892 (southern Sulawesi)
• Charaxes mars madensis Rothschild, 1899 (Buru)