Charaxes jasius, the two-tailed pasha, is a butterfly in the family Nymphalidae. It is the only European species of the genus Charaxes. Divergence of the Mediterranean species C. jasius from the last common ancestor with its closest related species still flying in the Afrotropical realm most probably occurred around 2 mya, i.e. during the Pliocene.
Charaxes jasius is a medium to large butterfly with a wingspan reaching 76–83 mm in males, the female being larger. Males up to 80–100 mm wingspan, with females even larger, may be found in Morocco. Each hindwing bears two tails, characteristic of most species of the genus. The spring seasonal brood is smaller in size compared with the second and sometimes third broods, and the two tails on each hindwing tend to curve somewhat towards each other resembling a pincer, less so in the later broods with slightly longer straighter tails.
This species occurs along the European Mediterranean coast from west Portugal to the coastal islands of Greece (except for the northern Adriatic sea coast), from the central and south peninsula of Italy to Istria, and the coastline of southern Anatolia including Samos, Ikaria and Rhodes. Its range includes the Balearic Islands, Corsica, Sardinia, Corfu and Crete. Inland, the butterfly is found in locally in Spain from Huelva and Málaga to Madrid and Salamanca. In France, the butterfly is found isolated inland from Provence to Lozère, Ardèche and Aveyron. Further around the Eastern Mediterranean coast, it occurs in Turkey, Lebanon, Israel, and continues along much of North African coast to the Atlantic Moroccan NW coast as far as coastal Tiznit environs, venturing inland in a very few Moroccan locations as high as 2,400m asl.
Its typical habitat around the Mediterranean Basin is the Maquis shrubland, up to 700–800 meters above sea level. This comprises thick, mixed scrub forests, often on hillsides, in hot and dry regions. The butterfly is found wherever its larval host plants are abundantly available.
sha is a fast-flying butterfly that displays territorial behaviour. The butterfly also is a noted for hill-topping. The adults of both sexes are attracted to fermenting fruits; they are attracted to the ethanol contained therein, and can be baited with wine and other alcoholic beverages.
Charaxes jasius is bivoltine or trivoltine, i.e. it has two or three generations per year depending on latitude and altitude.
