They are a large species with a distinctive and dramatic ventral side forewing with an intense pink patch (watermelon red).
   The hindwing is a rich reflective green with bold white stripes.
   The dorsal side is a dark grey green which is quite distinctive in flight. (Females appear to be larger than males, with larger black marks.)
   They are on the wing from June onwards. Their flight is fast and graceful, and they usually settle on those branches of trees which hang over the road, or on Thistle heads. (They become less active during the hot days of summer.) 
  They fly in one generation per year.
  Males can be territorial and will form territories centered on a branch of a tree at the edge of woodland. There, he will chase butterflies as they pass along the woodland margin.
   (These branches are normally 2 or 3 meters above head height.)