[7] Adult specimens of Eupithecia are typically small, often between 12 and 35 mm, with muted colours, and display a large amount of uniformity between species.

[3] As a result, identification of a specimen as part of genus Eupithecia is generally easy, but identifying the exact species is difficult and often reliant on examination of the dissected genitals.

[3] Of the species where the larval behaviour is known, most feed from the flowers and seeds of their food plants rather than the foliage.

The larvae of all but one[9] of the endemic species of Eupithecia from Hawaii are ambush predators of a wide variety of insects and spiders.

[10] These ambush predators have raptorial legs, with which they grab prey that comes into contact with their hind end.