It is found in the Alps and in mountainous areas of Bulgaria in alpine meadows from 400 to 2,300 meters.

It has an orange and brown checkered upperside pattern separated by the veins and organized in lines.

Euphydryas cynthia is sexually dimorphic: the male has white checkerboards in the basal and discal areas of the wing whereas the female is all checkered orange.

On the upperside and the underside of the female the orange checkers of the postdiscal band are centered by a black dot.

Small amounts of these molecules have been found to make the larvae unpalatable to insect-eating predators—which may contribute to survival.