Upperside is yellow-orange with black borders which are wider in females. Underside of hindwing is yellow with paler veins. Females deposit eggs singly under host plant leaves.
Caterpillars feed on leaves and live in tents of two leaves silked together.
Fourth-stage caterpillars hibernate, complete their feeding the next spring, and pupate in a leaf cocoon in vegetation about 3 feet above the ground. Nectar from flowers of purple vetch, Canada thistle, dogbane, stiff coreopsis, purple coneflower, green milkweed, and ox-eye daisy. Relatively undisturbed grasslands, prairies, sand prairies, and serpentine barrens. Strays to west Virginia, northern Arkansas, and Illinois. Opler, P. A. and G. O. Krizek.