It is a high-altitude butterfly found in the Alps and Apennine Mountains on heights between 1,900 and 3,000 meters (6,200 and 9,800 ft) in Austria, Germany, France, Switzerland, Italy and Slovenia.

Upperside of both wings sombre black-brown, with an obsolescent red-brown band on the forewing which often hardly contrasts with the ground-colour.

— Distributed over the whole Alps, but occurring above the tree line, in July and August, on localities covered with boulders.

More an insect of the northern and eastern Limestone Alps, occurring but sporadically and mostly in small numbers of individuals.

(37 c) has the upper- and underside uniformly black, only in the female there being occasionally a faint reddish brown tint on the upperside of the forewing.