Before hatching some assume a pinkish hue and others become greyish-ashen colour. Directly it is extruded and before it drops it is a greenish-white, but it almost immediately turns white and is then dropped.

The apex to one-fourth down is covered with extremely fine reticulations of a network pattern these diverge into longitudinal ridges, numbering between thirty and forty, which are very slightly raised and chiefly formed of tiny projections which become broken up into numerous minute points over the basal fourth the entire surface is finely granulated. It is of an opaque white with a creamy tinge, and in general structure and colouring it resembles a miniature ostrich's egg. high, and about the same in diameter, being almost spherical in shape, but rather narrower near the apex, in the centre of which is a small micropyle finely dentated the base is flattened and sunken in the middle.

The eggs are laid at random, either simply dropped among the grass or jerked with considerable force, which is the usual habit the egg is expelled sideways, i.e., it leaves the ovipositor sideways, so that the egg is at right angles with the abdomen it there remains attached for a few seconds and is then either jerked away or simply drops to the ground among the stems of grass. 'This butterfly has a peculiar habit of dropping its eggs among the grass without attempting to attach them to anything. The white spherical egg is laid in a curious manner - the female does not lay on the foodplant, but simply drops the egg while perched on a grass stem or while flying in suitable habitat.

Black and white butterfly