The body has uniformly long dense pubescence, obscuring the ground-colour.

Criorhina differ from other bumblebee mimics - Mallota, Arctophila, Pocota and Brachypalpus by the form of their antennae: the first segments are thin and form a stalk, the third segment is shorter than it is wide.

In Criorhina, the face projects downwards, in contrast to Pocota and Brachypalpus.

The larva is figured by Hartley (1961) [13] and Rotheray (1993) [14] Adults are arboreal and found in most categories of both coniferous and deciduous forest with overmature trees and are seen visiting flowers to feed.

[15][16] These include white umbellifers, Allium ursinum, Cornus sanguinea, Crataegus, Euonymus, Filipendula, Frangula alnus, Hypericum, Lonicera xylosteum, Photinia, Ranunculus, Rhamnus catharticus, Rhododendron, Rosa, Rubus idaeus, Salix, Sorbus, Taraxacum and Viburnum opulus.