[1] Most species of Catocala have medium to large adults, cryptically coloured except for the hindwings, which are marked with stripes in orange, red, white, or even blue.

[2]It is believed that the bright colors, arranged in usually roughly concentric markings, at a casual glance resemble the eyes of a predatory animal, such as a cat.

An underwing moth, well camouflaged in its daytime resting spot on a tree trunk or branch, will suddenly flash open the hindwings when disturbed.

To assist in avoiding nocturnal predators such as bats, these moths also possess (like many of their relatives) fairly well-developed hearing organs.

Typical food plants are Fagales of the families Betulaceae, Fagaceae and Juglandaceae – mainly hickory (Carya), oak (Quercus) and walnut tree (Juglans) species, as well as others such as alder (Alnus), beech (Fagus), birch (Betula) and chestnut (Castanea).

The caterpillars of numerous Old World and some North American species feed on the Salicaceae Populus (poplars) and Salix (willows), which belong to the Malpighiales.

Less common larval food plants of Catocala are for example elms (Ulmus) and various Rosaceae of the Rosales, Tilia (linden and basswood) of the Malvales, or some Fabaceae of the Fabales; as the preceding, these all belong to the Fabidae lineage of rosid eudicots.

In the scientific literature, smaller subdivisions into putatively related species are sometimes applied, but there is no consistent and widely accepted taxonomic treatment for the genus as a whole.