A rather strange and fascinating species. The female is very large and the upperside ground colour is a light chocolate-brown, the female being lighter than the male as with most Satyrid species. There two large ocelli on the forewing with whitish-blue to blue centres (larger in the female, and visible on both upperside and underside in both sexes), which gives it a rather strange appearance. These blue ocelli are clearer on 3253.

The only species with which it could be confused is the Great Sooty Satyr (Satyrus ferula), where the male is similar, especially the upperside, although the centres of the ferula ocelli are clearly white and dryas also has an extra small ocellus on the hindwing. Also, the dryas wing shape is rather square and the hindwing is scalloped, quite heavily in the female. The female unh has a clear whitish post-discal band.

observations

a rather pale male, the apical unf ocellus being unusually almost the same size as the lower, whereas it is usually much smaller. This photo just about shows the blue centres to the unf ocelli, and blue scales can just be detected in the small unh ocellus in s2. This was seen in a very westerly location where dryas is in decline.

the unf ocellus in s5 is as large as in the one in s2; the illustration in T&L shows the s5 ocellus as smaller.

a male, with forewing folded down.

a female, as indicated by the lighter post-discal band and deep scalloping of the hindwing. The unf apical ocellus is rather odd in that the blue centre is not round and it is also displaced externally.