After a day or so, the ova develops rings and then turns black before hatching. From the time an egg is laid to the time it hatches is roughly six days in nature and five days in the lab. The young first instar larva is black with a thin, white saddle. As the larva moults into later instars, small white and yellow-orange speckles appear. Larvae of P. indra are much more timid than those of P. zelicaon.
Hibernation is as pupa.
For some reason, most lab-reared pupae emerge after two years of winter. Some pupae have been known to diapause for up to seven years. Minori is one of the most beautiful races of P. indra . Its large size with long tails combined with thin to intermittent cream bands and generous blue dorsal hindwing scales are diagnostic. Adults display a significant amount of individual variation.