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The upperside is an even, dark chocolate brown with two dark (often white-pupilled) forewing eyespots, with two or three hindwing underside spots (sometimes a complete row). The eyespots are better-developed on the underside, which has fine, dark striations and a vague median line. Females are larger and paler, often with a more pronounced pale patch surrounding the eyespots dorsally. There is no orange surrounding the dorsal forewing eyespots as in eyed Erebia species. C. oetus is similar, but pegala never has the upper forewing spot larger than the lower one, is slighlty larger overall, and often has blue scales in the forewing underside spots. Subspecies ino, named from Calgary, reportedly describes all Alberta populations (Bird et al. 1995).

Immature stages of western Canadian populations are undescribed. Guppy & Shepard (2001) illustrate a grown larva and pupa from south-central BC. Larvae overwinter in the first instar (Layberry et al. 1998). The most widespread and common satyrine in the province.

Larval hosts are unrecorded in western Canada, primarily reported to be grasses elsewhere, including wild oats (Avena fatua) (Layberry et al. 1998). Unlike most satyrines, adults (particularly females) are avid flower visitors and frequent thistles and alfalfa (Klassen et al. 1989, Bird et al. 1998).