The subspecies of Cethosia-biblis found in India are-[2] This species can be found from the Indian subcontinent eastwards to South-East Asia and East Asia, the eastern limit being the Philippines, and the southern limit being Indonesia.

In males the dorsal sides of the wings are bright orange red, framed by a black outline with white spots.

The undersides range from bright red to pale brown, interlaced by black and white.

This astonishing pattern helps to disguise the shape of the butterfly, while the intense colour of the dorsal sides of the wings is a warning to predators that the red lacewing has a bad taste, deriving from the poisonous host plants of the caterpillars.

In fact they mainly feed on poisonous climbing plants, mainly Passiflora species (P. cochinchinensis, P. moluccana, etc.