Identifying features
Wingspan 28–34 millimetres. The forewings are reddish-brown yellow with a broad brown-black border; the underside of the hindwing is grey with a broad white transverse band and 4–5 irregularly sized eye spots. Distinguishable from the darrgräsfjäril female, it is characterised by fewer, larger, and more irregularly sized eye spots.
Similar species
No similar species are described in the sources consulted.
Distribution
It occurs fairly commonly in the eastern parts of Gästrikland, Värmland, Dalarna, and Svealand; it is rarer in Bohuslän and Dalsland; the northern boundary runs through southern Värmland and Dalarna to the middle of Gästrikland.
Biology
The growth occurs in the north, possibly as a mountain species; the larva overwinters as nearly fully grown and pupates hanging from withered plant parts near the ground.