It is found from south-eastern British Columbia to eastern Washington, eastern Oregon, north-eastern California, Idaho, Nevada, northern Arizona, Utah, Montana, Wyoming, Colorado and north-western New Mexico.

The species was first described by Ferdinand Heinrich Hermann Strecker in 1875 under the name Pseudohazis nuttalli.

The hindwings are yellow orange with black-tipped veins and a thick black stripe that curves through the middle of the wing, up through the forewings.

The eggs are laid in rings around small twigs of the host plant.

The larvae are black and are covered with yellow spines that will sting on contact with skin.