Wingspan 7 to 12 mm. A small, stubby-looking moth with a pale transverse band against a slightly darker brownish ground colour. A darker spot is visible beyond the band and a dark suffusion before it.

The moths occur in July and August.

The larvae feed on a wide range of dried plant matter, such as dead leaves and birds' nests, normally within a silken tube.

The species is fairly common and widely distributed throughout most of the British Isles. In the Butterfly Conservation’s Microlepidoptera Report 2011 this species was classified as common.

This species seems to be uncommon or under recorded in Leicestershire and Rutland. L&R Moth Group status = D (rare or rarely recorded)