Chryxus Arctic

The upperside of the brown Arctic butterfly's wings is typically cream to orange brown, with the edges and bases of the wings a darker brown. The underside of the hindwings shows coarse striation of dark brown and light grey, with a broad dark poorly defined median band and veins of light grey. The upperside of the forewing displays two to four black eyespots near the outer margin, while the upperside of the hindwing has zero to two. These are repeated on the underside of the wings. The wingspan can range from 39 to 54 mm. Male adults can be distinguished from females by their dark discal patch on the forewing. Females are also observed to have rounder wings than males, while males have more pointed forewings.

The range of the brown Arctic has been found to spread across the far northwest of North America, including West Alberta, South British Columbia, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, Colorado, Utah, Nevada, New Mexico, Alaska, and California. Typically, the brown Arctic butterfly seems to prefer mountainous sparsely vegetated environments that are characterized by short summers. They are often found in prairies and steppes, but may drift to mountaintops and the edges of forests. It has been conjectured that they prefer habitats with places fit for perching, like fallen trees, or areas that shelter from harsh winds, such as gulches. They have been observed to be less attracted to sites with more than 50% to 60% plant cover. Males are more likely to be found on elevated ridge tops, usually favoring the highest sites of the ridges, whereas females tend to stay in meadows.

The brown Arctic butterfly is often described as cryptically colored. Their striated light brown undersides have evolved due to predator pressure. Due to this, the butterflies evolved to camouflage themselves against their background in the Arctic-alpine habitat, including against rock, lichen, and bark. Brown Arctics in hotter, drier regions are generally lighter in color than populations in wetter, cloudier regions. This is most likely because differential lightings leading to different optimal camouflages. The butterfly has been observed to lean sideways to minimize its shadow to be better camouflaged against lichen covered rocks.