Forewing red brown much mottled with darker; median shade prominently darker; the wavy whitish submarginal line forming a conspicuous white triangle on submedian fold; upper stigmata pale grey; claviform small, black-edged; hindwing dull fuscous, the basal half paler, with dark veins and lunule;- in splendens Stph.

is pale yellowish grey brown, with the markings indistinct; this form is found in W. Turkestan and also in Iceland; – scotica Tutt is a dark purplish grey form from Scotland and England, Finland, Lapland, and E.

Larva purple brown or brownish green, with four deep yellow stripes of uniform width; the head, feet, and venter flesh colour.

The larvae feed on various shrubs, deciduous trees and herbaceous plants, such as heather (Calluna sp.

), broom (Cytisus scoparius), bracken (Pteridium aquilinum), bramble (Rubus sp.