Wingspan 15-25 mm. Usual form is yellow with russet wing markings similar to A. hamana. The form ferrugana has orange-brown ground colour instead of the normal yellow. Both have distinctive brown ring at wing-tip.

Its main foodplant is Common Knapweed (Centaurea nigra).

May to August.

Flies from dusk into the night and is attracted to light.

This distinctive species is distributed over much of Britain but is scarcer in northern parts. 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)