Charaxes are tropical Old World butterflies, with by far the highest diversity in sub-Saharan Africa, a smaller number from South Asia to Melanesia and Australia, and a single species (C. jasius) in Europe.

Certain favoured perches are selected and intruders are chased and driven off, Charaxes feed in part at oozes from tree wounds infested with beetle or other larvae and on rotting fruit (they come to hanging traps baited with fermenting banana).

The most striking features in the habits of Charaxes are the powerful rapid flight, the partiality to putrid matter and the constancy with which a specimen returns to the same spot.

The males come often in some numbers to water pools on roads where they mud puddle; both sexes are fond of the juice of trees, decaying fruits, dung of animals and putrid meat and can successfully be entrapped by the use of such baits; one is known to come to flowers (C. zoolina).

The larvae feed variously on Rhamnaceae, Leguminosae, Sapindaceae, Melianthaceae, Euphorbiaceae, Gramineae, Ochnaceae, Lauraceae, Tiliaceae, Meliaceae, etc.

The micropyle end is flattened, slightly concave, with the centre raised; from the centre radiate slight ribs, which gradually disappear at the sides and do not reach the base or underside; the longitudinal ribs are connected by extremely feeble transverse ridges, and bear, as Doherty correctly points out, small projecting points, which are easily visible under a good lens.

The colour of the larvae is generally green, often yellowish, the head bears, on each side, a light line which runs along the outer horn, and there is a spot on one or more abdominal segments, the colour of these latter markings, which are mostly more or less halfmoon-shaped, is as a rule buffish, the spots having often a darker (reddish or bluish) border.

The thick chrysalis is bright green as a rule, very smooth and shining, dorsally very convex; head bluntly bipartite; end of abdomen with two rounded tubercles ventrally.

The anal angle (wing corner) is in many species more pronounced than the outer margin between the tails, best seen in Charaxes zingha.

The females can be arranged according to the pattern of the upperside of the forewing into four groups: The underside is sometimes very colourful with orange, grey and auburn silver areas.

Van Someren recognizes species groups, the analysis is in part subjective and the number of taxa remains uncertain.

As molecular phylogenetic studies continue, lineages distinct enough to warrant some formal degree of recognition become evident and new groupings are suggested, but consistent ranking remains a problem.