The Plain Bushbrown, Mycalesis malsarida, is a species

Species

In biology, a species is one of the basic units of biological classification and a taxonomic rank. A species is often defined as a group of organisms capable of interbreeding and producing fertile offspring. While in many cases this definition is adequate, more precise or differing measures are...

 of satyrine

Satyrinae

Satyrinae, the satyrines or satyrids, commonly known as the Browns, is a subfamily of the Nymphalidae . They were formerly considered a distinct family, Satyridae. This group contains nearly half of the known diversity of brush-footed butterflies...

 butterfly

Butterfly

A butterfly is a mainly day-flying insect of the order Lepidoptera, which includes the butterflies and moths. Like other holometabolous insects, the butterfly's life cycle consists of four parts: egg, larva, pupa and adult. Most species are diurnal. Butterflies have large, often brightly coloured...

 found in Asia

Asia

Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent, located primarily in the eastern and northern hemispheres. It covers 8.7% of the Earth's total surface area and with approximately 3.879 billion people, it hosts 60% of the world's current human population...

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Description

Wet-season form. Upperside uniform dark vandyke-brown, slightly paler towards apex of fore wing and with somewhat obscure subterminal pale lines. Underside similar, but shading into purplish towards the apex of the fore and terminal margins of both fore and hind wings; the wings crossed by a common pale purplish transverse band followed by a series of white-centred, fulvous-ringed black ocelli, five on the fore and seven on the hind wing, the series bordered ou both sides by slender irregular sinuous purple lines, beyond which are subterminal and terminal paler purple lines. Sometimes one or two of the ocelli are absent. Antennae, head, thorax and abdomen brown. Male sex-mark in form 2.

Dry-season form. Upperside similar to that in the wet-season form but paler. Underside move purplish towards terminal margins of the wings ; the transverse band narrower, not so well-defined ; the ocelli more or less obsolete, reduced to mere specks; subterminal and terminal lines ochraceous. The rest as in the wet-season form.