It is found in Austria, Slovenia, Croatia, the Czech Republic, France, Georgia, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Japan, Kazakhstan, Mongolia, Poland, Romania, Russia, northern Serbia,[2] Spain, Switzerland, and Ukraine and East across the Palearctic to Japan.

[3] A recent microhabitat preference study indicates that grazing is necessary for maintaining the present distribution and abundance of these butterflies.

The species is at once distinguished from the very similar arion by the underside not bearing an ocellus in the cell proximally to the discocellular spot.

Throughout Europe (with the exception of England) and the adjacent districts of Asia, from North Germany and Russia to Italy, and from Paris to Dauria.

— Near the North- Western boundary there occur especially small individuals (of the size of icarus), which have but few ocelli; these are ab.

(83 b) is much larger than European specimens, with a broad block border which sharply contrasts with the light blue; from Amurland.