The ground-colour of the upper surface deep black, as in Charaxes brutus ; the median band is light ochre-yellow, on the forewing anteriorly double, being composed in cellules 2—6 of two more or less completely separated spots, on the hindwing short and triangular, reaching at most to vein 3.

is the East African race, which occurs from Delagoa Bay and Nyassaland to Somaliland and only differs in the lighter median band and the more distinct marginal spots on the upperside of the forewing; in this form also the ground-colour in the basal part of the under surface is sometimes red-brown, sometimes pure black (= ab.

(for terms see Novitates Zoologicae Volume 5:545-601 [2])Life-sized colour plates and description of the larval and pupal stages of C. castor and additional related species, illustrated by Dr. V. G. L. van Someren, are readily available.

[3] Historical attempts to assemble a cluster of presumably related species into a "Charaxes jasius Group" have not been wholly convincing.

Within a well-populated clade of 27 related species sharing a common ancestor approximately 16 mya during the Miocene,[15] 26 are now considered together as The jasius Group.

[14] One of the two lineages forms a robust clade of seven species sharing a common ancestor approximately 2-3 mya, i.e. during the Pliocene,[15] and are considered as the jasius subgroup.