Male forewing rounded. Upperside of both wings brown with wide orange borders and dark median band.
Males perch on leaves to seek females.
Eggs are laid on the underside of host plant leaves, which the caterpillars eat. Half-grown caterpillars hibernate in leaf litter. One brood from mid-June to late July. Nectar from flowers including butterflyweed, white sweet clover, goldenrod, ox-eye daisy, sneezeweed, and yarrow. Open woodland streams near serpentine, shale, or limestone barrens.