Male.
Upper-side rich brownish-black ; cilia alternated with white.
Fore-wing with slender longitudinal streaks of golden-yellow scales within the cell, and hairy-scaled broad streaks between the outer veins ; lower base of the wing also sparsely speckled with golden-yellow scales.
Hind-wing with a cream- white upper discal patch composed of three portions, a short almost quadrate portion in the costal interspace, and two lower large elongate portions in the subcostal interspaces, a few white or grey scales also being present below the lower portion ; at the anal angle is a dark purple-red circlet which generally partly encloses a round black spot, followed by a lower submarginal series of three, sometimes four, more or less apparent purple-red incurved lunules, the first or lower one sometimes forming a circle round a black spot ; in some specimens the lower lunule is obsolescent, in others all the latter are obsolete.
Underside paler.
Fore-wing with prominent greyish-white scaled slender cell-streaks and bread outer vein-streaks.
Hind-wing with the upper basal area speckled with greyish-white scale.*,
and three similar scaled slender longitudinal streaks within the cell, the base of the median and sub median vein also being white scaled; upper discal white patch composed of three smaller portions than on the upper-side; anal ocellus and a complete series of submarginal lunules dark red ; an inner sub anal confluent lunles also present in the lower median interspace ; the anal and sub anal lunules being speckled with violet-blue scales; beyond is a marginal row of more or less defined red-and-white scaled lunules.

Female.
Upper-side and underside similar to the male, except that the base of the hind-wing is paler.


Body brownish-black; collar, front of head and palpi white-spotted; tegulae white fringed; legs and antenna black.

— Frederic Moore, Lepidoptera Indica.
Vol.
V
Male. Upper-side rich brownish-black ; cilia alternated with white. Fore-wing with slender longitudinal streaks of golden-yellow scales within the cell, and hairy-scaled broad streaks between the outer veins ; lower base of the wing also sparsely speckled with golden-yellow scales. Hind-wing with a cream- white upper discal patch composed of three portions, a short almost quadrate portion in the costal interspace, and two lower large elongate portions in the subcostal interspaces, a few white or grey scales also being present below the lower portion ; at the anal angle is a dark purple-red circlet which generally partly encloses a round black spot, followed by a lower submarginal series of three, sometimes four, more or less apparent purple-red incurved lunules, the first or lower one sometimes forming a circle round a black spot ; in some specimens the lower lunule is obsolescent, in others all the latter are obsolete. Underside paler. Fore-wing with prominent greyish-white scaled slender cell-streaks and bread outer vein-streaks. Hind-wing with the upper basal area speckled with greyish-white scale.*, and three similar scaled slender longitudinal streaks within the cell, the base of the median and sub median vein also being white scaled; upper discal white patch composed of three smaller portions than on the upper-side; anal ocellus and a complete series of submarginal lunules dark red ; an inner sub anal confluent lunles also present in the lower median interspace ; the anal and sub anal lunules being speckled with violet-blue scales; beyond is a marginal row of more or less defined red-and-white scaled lunules. 
Female. Upper-side and underside similar to the male, except that the base of the hind-wing is paler. 

Body brownish-black; collar, front of head and palpi white-spotted; tegulae white fringed; legs and antenna black.
— Frederic Moore, Lepidoptera Indica. Vol. V
Papilio helenus