This species was originally described by Alfred Philpott in 1927 using a specimen collected from Coopers Knob, Banks Peninsula by Stewart Lindsay and named Carposina maculosa.

[2][3] George Hudson discussed this species under this name in his 1928 publication The Butterflies and Moths of New Zealand.

[3]Philpott was of the opinion that the distinctive dots as well as the ground colour on the forewings of adults of this species distinguishes it from others in the genus.

[1][7] As well as the type locality, it has been observed in the Lyttelton Hills, Hoon Hay Bush, and in the Aoraki / Mt Cook National Park in Canterbury as well as in Otago.

[9] This species has been classified as having the "Data Deficient" conservation status under the New Zealand Threat Classification System.