They are usually greyish-brownish and rather inconspicuous moths, though some are more boldly patterned in blackish, pale and even yellow hues.

Like their close relatives, they lack the loop formed by forewing veins 1a/1b, and their labial palps are elongated and project straightly, appearing like a pointed "beak".

In the males, the clasper's harpe has few if any unusual features, the aedeagus is usually a rather nondescript rod, and the vesica bears a characteristic small disc with a grainy surface.

As far as is known, the caterpillar larvae of most Eudonia feed on mosses, namely of subclasses Bryidae and Dicranidae; some also eat lichen.

In a few cases, other food plants have been recorded or suspected, such as Colobanthus pearlworts or woody asterids of genus Olearia (daisy-bushes).