[1][3] These butterflies inhabit grassy and bushy areas, clearings in scrubland and open flowery meadows in hills, at an elevation of 200–1,700 metres (660–5,580 ft) above sea level.

The underside of the wings tends to be pale ocher in the females and grey-bluish in the males, with black spots surrounded by white.

Underside pale grey-brown, with the base dusted with blue, the ocelli but little prominent and those near the margin of the hindwing very weak.

(81 a) are strongly darkened females, which have a very wide distribution among ordinary specimens, but are more frequently found in the East, in Greece, Asia Minor, etc.

– versicolor Ruhl-Heyne is a form from Mesopotamia with the upperside very light blue and the marginal spots of the underside entirely obsolete.

[= P. d. versicolor (Rühl, 1895)](81 a), from Akbes in the south-western Taurus, is very peculiar as regards colour; the upperside of the female is traversed by many shadowy streaks situated on the veins; the hindwing of the male is likewise dentate in the anal portion, while in the female the teeth are so strong that they form 2–3 short tails.