The black-lyre leafroller moth is endemic to New Zealand and is common throughout the country.

Alternatively, it has variously been referred to Batodes (= Ditula) or Paedisca (= Epinotia); if anything it might belong to the latter, presently circumscribed as a large and wide-ranging group of uncertain monophyly.

[2] Junior synonyms of this species are:[2] The eggs are laid on the topside of the leaf.

[3] The species is primarily known as a pest of kiwifruit (Actinidia deliciosa), but the caterpillars feed on various other trees with fleshy fruit, such as Citrus, hawthorns (Crataegus), persimmons and ebonies (Diospyros), gum trees (Eucalyptus), fuchsias (Fuchsia) and grapevines (Vitis).

They primarily feed on the leaves, but can also damage the husk and fruit body.