Upperside is dark orange-brown with pale orange patches on the forewing and central hindwing. Underside of hindwing is violet-brown with a pale band of spots and a patch of gray scales near the outer margin. They appear to defend their territory and may keep a perch for as long as a week.
Courtship usually occurs in the afternoon.
Females lay eggs singly under the host leaves. Caterpillars feed on leaves and make shelters of silk-tied leaves. One brood from mid-June to August. Woodland openings, stream valleys, forest meadows. Western South Dakota and north-central Nebraska south through the southern Rocky Mountains and foothills to central Mexico.