It is found in northern Greece, Hungary, Bulgaria, southern Russia, Asia Minor, Armenia and Iran.

Upperside of the male almost like arcania, forewing yellowish red edged with black;hindwing dark sooty brown, with the ocelli shining through faintly from the underside.

Underside yellowish brown, hindwing tinged with greyish green, with 6 similar ocelli, the one situated at the anal angle being sometimes double.

— The form obscura Ruhl [Heyne now subspecies](48c) is smaller and washed with a dark colour, so that the upperside appears uniformly sooty brown; from Armenia.

(48 c)[now species Coenonympha iphioides Staudinger, 1870], from Castilia, is on the upperside similar to iphis, but the ocelli on the underside of the hindwing are very large and complete, touching one another with their outer borders.