During the day the adult moths rest on the trunks of trees or hide among the twigs and leaves on the ground.

This species was described by Edward Meyrick in 1907 using material collected by Alfred Philpott at Invercargill.

[5][6] George Hudson, following Meyrick, discussed and illustrated this species under the name Carposina iophaea in his 1928 publication The Butterflies and Moths of New Zealand.

[2] The male lectotype specimen is held at the Natural History Museum, London.

Forewings elongate, narrow, costa gently arched, apex round-pointed, termen almost straight, oblique; dark fuscous irrorated with whitish, sometimes more or less mixed with pale ochreous; a series of small dark spots along costa; tufts brownish-ochreous suffusedly edged with black and posteriorly margined with whitish, viz., two near base sometimes surrounded with ochreous suffusion, a transverse angulated series beyond 1⁄4, and five arranged round middle of disc, enclosed space sometimes blackish; a more or less defined angulated dark subterminal line: cilia rather dark fuscous irrorated with whitish.

[7] The manner in which the adult moth folds its wings assists it in finding hiding places.