Wingspan about 11 mm. This rather obscurely-marked species is similar to S. nitidana but is less distinctively marked than that species.

Beech woods and areas where Beech is present.

Adults are on the wing during June, and fly in afternoon sunshine, as well as at sunrise.

The larva feeds on Beech, attaching two leaves together with silk and feeding within, causing a noticeable blotch on the leaf surfaces.

This species occurs sparsely in suitable habitat in the southern half of England and parts of Wales. In the Butterfly Conservation’s Microlepidoptera Report 2011 this species was classified as local.

Rare in Leicestershire and Rutland. The Charnwood Lodge record of 3rd June 2011 is only the second record for VC55.