D. fulminea was first described by Alfred Philpott in 1915 using a male specimen collected by George Howes on Bold Peak in Otago in February.

[2] George Hudson discussed and illustrated this species in his 1928 book The butterflies and moths of New Zealand.

Undersides: Forewings brownish-orange; upper lines partially reproduced and suffusedly margined with fuscous; several bright orange-brown blotches on costa hindwings brownish-orange; an outwardly oblique irregular white median fascia; a pale subterminal line.

[5] Along with the type locality of Bold Peak, this species has also been observed in Fiordland as well as in the mountains in the West Coast.

[6][7][8] The adults of this species are day flying moths and are on the wing from December to February.