It was described in 1830, by the German entomologist Christian Friedrich Freyer, from two type specimen found in Sligo, Ireland and Deal, Kent.

At night it can be found at flowering ragwort (Jacobaea vulgaris), marram grass and rushes and also comes to light.

[1][2] The moth overwinters as an egg, and larvae can be found from May to June, where they feed in the stems and roots of various grasses.

[3][4][5] Requiring genitalic examination See Townsend et al.,[6] Freyer, when describing the moth in 1830, placed it in the genus Amphipoea, which was raised by the Swedish anatomist Gustaf Johan Billberg in 1820.

Amphipoea refers to Amphi – round, and poa – grass; i.e. the habitat.