Wingspan: 12 to 16 mm. It has a dark maroon-brown forewing sometimes almost black, and being darker in the female, thinly scattered with yellowish scales and with four, variably shaped, yellow blotches.

Well wooded areas.

Moths are on the wing from June to early August and fly in the evening, sometimes being attracted to light.

The larva feeds on fungus under dead wood or bark, and possibly has a two-year life cycle.

A relatively scarce species, distributed in the northern half of Britain, most commonly in parts of Scotland. In the Butterfly Conservation's Microlepidoptera Report 2011 this species was classified as Nationally Scarce B.

It appears to be uncommon in Leicestershire and Rutland, where there are few records. L&R Moth Group status = D (rare or rarely recorded).