Wingspan about 11mm. A rather distinctive speis. It is dark grey or almost black with a large, semi circular pale costal blotch, often with an orangey tinge, and a pale bar across the wing at about two thirds.

Oak woods and areas where oak is present.

Flying in May and June, the adult moths can be attracted to light but can sometimes be located in daytime on tree trunks.

Oak is the larval foodplant, the larva feeding between spun leaves during September. It overwinters as a pupa in a cocoon on the ground.

Occurring in most of England and Wales, but not in Scotland or Ireland, this rather distinctive species is fairly common in southern oak woods. In the Butterfly Conservation's Microlepidoptera Report 2011 this species was classified as common.

Occasional in Leicestershire and Rutland. L&R Moth Group status = C (very scarce resident or rare migrant).