It spends the first five to six years of its life as a caterpillar in a tree trunk (common host plants are the pūriri tree (Vitex lucens) and putaputāwētā (Carpodetus serratus), but pūriri larva also inhabit non-native species such as Eucalyptus), with the last 48 hours of its life as a moth.

[2] George Hudson discussed and illustrated this species under that name in his book The Butterflies and Moths of New Zealand.

In the past males frequently swarmed lights in areas inhabited by people, however with forest clearing, this has become less common.

Adults live only a few days at most, generally being most active at dusk and night time when they mate and lay eggs.

[9] The larva emerges at night to feed on callus tissue around the entrance to the burrow, where it is hidden under a camouflaged web of silk (often matching the bark in colour and texture).

The putaputawētā (Carpodetus serratus) is another common host plant, which is named after the wētā that often shelter in the old holes vacated by pūriri moth larva.

[11] The larva also inhabit native beech, tītoki, kānuka and maire and smaller trees such as mānuka, wineberry and houhere.

Introduced plants such as eucalyptus, English oak, silver birch, lemon, apple and willow are also used as hosts.