Wingspan c.10 mm. This very small Tortrix is delicately marked in close up, but typically looks all dark from any distance.

It frequents coniferous woodland, parks and gardens where its foodplants, Norway spruce (Picea abies) and Sitka spruce (P.sitchensis) occur in numbers.

The adult moths fly from June to August.

The larvae feed internally on the leaves of the foodplants.

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).