Both sexes are uniformly dark chocolate brown above with a broad contrasting white border. And the female has a few diffuse orange spots near the corner of the hindwing. The underside is dark beige-brown with a diffuse coloration. This being mainly a typical submarginal band with orange spots on the hindwing and a a row of black white encircled spots within this band and a long white wedge running from the middle of the band to the white and black discal spot. Can vary in width and rarely be missing. Diffuse green-blue powdering can be present close to the body.
The combination of the upper- and underside should make it unique in the Nordic region.
Distribution:
Spain, France, E Europe, central part of Scandinavian peninsula, Turkey, Urals, Mongolia to Altai region.
Habitat:
Moist and dry grassy fields near forest edges.
Behavior:
Flying short stretches only and favor being near the host plants. Also likes to congregate
Status:
Accidental in Denmark, Jylland 1997. Scarce in the central region of the other Nordic countries.
The only Danish record from Jylland 1997 has been disputed and by the gang around danske-natur.dk been removed from the official country list. I can't find any official Danish authority maintaining the list, why I'm keeping the species in the list, until I understand the lepidopteran community better...seems more Wild West than the ditto birding community!
Subspecies from danske-natur.dk