[2] It is endemic to New Zealand and has only been collected in the mountains near Lake Wakatipu in the South Island.

This species was first described by Edward Meyrick in 1905 using a specimen collected by George Hudson at Humboldt Range, Lake Wakatipu at 4000 ft and named Xanthorhoe periphaea.

[2] The male holotype specimen is held at the Natural History Museum, London.

Fore-wings triangular, termen slightly bowed, oblique; light fuscous, sprinkled with darker fuscous and whitish; two very obscurely darker fasciae indicating median band, first curved, preceded by several white dots, second irregularly curved outwards on upper 3⁄5, followed by a series of white dots; some whitish dots indicating subterminal line, edged with obscure darker shades : cilia fuscous-whitish, with two fuscous lines.

[1] A. periphaea has only been collected in the mountains in the north, west and south of Lake Wakatipu.