This species is endemic to New Zealand and is found in the Wellington region as well as on Stephens and the Chatham Islands .

This species was first described by E. F. Hawthorne in 1897 using a specimen he collected in Wellington (specifically at Cape Terawhiti)[3] and named Asaphodes siris.

[7] The holotype specimen is held at the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa.

The fore-wings are dull ochreous; there is a small curved brown patch near the base; then a pale band, followed by a very broad brown central band, paler in the middle; there is a very sharp projection on the outer edge of the central band, a conspicuous black dot in the centre of the wing, and a series of minute black dots on the termen.

[12] This moth is classified under the New Zealand Threat Classification system as being "At Risk, Relict".