Jasius is the sole representative of the huge tropical Charaxes genus, and is very much restricted to the Mediterranean region in France. It is a powerful flier, huge in flight and cannot be missed or really mistaken for anything else. It is bivoltine, the first generation in May/June and the second generation being on the wing August/September.

Lafranchis describes it as rare in the spring, more common at the end of summer. I have to say that has not been my experience, although they were more numerous in the Autumn of 2008 than previous years. "Common" is probably the wrong description, as it is so large that It can hardly go unnoticed, whereas if it were as common as, say, the Geranium Bronze (Cacyreus marshalli), the sky would seem full of them.

It finds alcohol quite irresistible and its behaviour is very interesting; when it senses alcohol, it circles around several times and settles in a nearby tree for a period of time ("casing the joint"), presumably to make sure that there are no predators around. Only then does it come down and again checks the area while sitting on the edge of the feast of a rotting banana (fermenting to produce alcohol) laced with a few drops of rum.

Then it starts to sample the delights on offer, with its huge black proboscis. Once settled, it does not seem to be concerned that a camera is approaching, even though it is clearly not becoming intoxicated. The second generation seemed less tempted by the bait.

observations

a magnificent fresh male enjoying the delights of dog droppings. It was one of three and all were 100% pristine.

a rather worn specimen, probably a male.

a close up.

a rare shot of open wings, albeit a very poor photograph. It was one of a trio (see notes under 19270) and the competition was so fierce that occasionally one would flash its wings open briefly to ward off the others, hence the only opportunity to get a photograph was using the five frames/second feature of the camera.