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Upperside golden rust-brown with 2 - 4 (usually 3) forewing eyespots, hindwing generally with one eyespot. Male with a dark discal forewing patch. Underside striated brown-black and white, median band loose and poorly defined. In Alberta, only O. macounii is similar, but male chryxus have a dark forewing discal patch and are slightly smaller. Female chryxus have at least three rather than two equal-sized forewing eyespots. Subspecies chryxus (named from Rock Lake near Jasper) inhabits the mountain region, while subspecies caryi (named from the Slave River region, see Kondla 1995) occurs in open Jack Pine woods of the boreal region.

The life cycle takes two years to complete in at least some regions (Scott 1986). Females lay eggs on various substrates near the host plants. Males perch along gullies or banks in mountain meadows, or branches and logs in the boreal region (Guppy & Shepard 2001). Some boreal Manitoba populations fly only in odd-numbered years (Klassen et al. 1989, Layberry et al. 1998). Few Alberta localties of subspecies caryi are known, more field surveys are needed to determine the distribution and conservation status in the province.