Description
The male of the Great Imperial is deep shining blue on the upperside, with a short oblique band running across the black apical border and dorsal blue patch stretching from the base of the forewing to the termen. Females are predominantly brown above, with a white tornal area on the hindwing. The underside is mainly orange, deepening towards the forewing apex, and the post-discal striae are confined to the tornal half of the hindwing. Both sexes possess a pair of white sword-like tails.

Habitat & Habits
The Great Imperial has been described as "rather rare in lowland forest". The adult butterfly appears to be a tree-top dweller and occasionally descends to feed or lay eggs. It shares the behaviour of a closely-related species, the Grand Imperial (Neocheritra amrita amrita) and resembles it closely. Where encountered, the butterfly is observed to fly rapidly, and stops to rest with its wings folded upright. Very rarely, it can be seen sunbathing with its wings opened.

Other Observations
To be detailed.

Early Stages
Refer to the ButterflyCircle's blog article - The Life History of the Great Imperial.

Further Reading
To be detailed.