Fringes are checkered. Upperside is gray-black with squarish white checks. Male has a costal fold enclosing scent scales on the forewing. Males patrol and occasionally perch all day in open areas in their search for receptive females. Eggs are deposited singly on leaves of the host plant.
Caterpillars feed within shelters of webbed leaves.
One brood from March-May in the south, requires 2 years to develop in the subarctic. Nectar from flowers of low-growing plants including blueberry, wild strawberry, and Canadian cinquefoil. In North America, from Alaska south and east to central Ontario and northern Michigan. Isolated populations in Labrador and arctic Quebec, the central Appalachians, and the Rocky Mountains from central Alberta south to northern New Mexico. G5 - Demonstrably secure globally, though it may be quite rare in parts of its range, especially at the periphery.