In the male, the forebody and forewing are rather dark brown, rather dull, often with a more or less clear, light net pattern in the outer part.

The hind wing is grey without any conspicuous sheen, thinly scaled.

Forewings less elongate, shining greyish-ochreous or light fuscous, faintly darker-strigulated.

[3][4][5] [6][7] To certainly determine the species of the genus Nematopogon dissection and study of the genitalia is necessary.

[9] Content in this edit is translated from the existing Norwegian Wikipedia article at no:Nematopogon pilella; see its history for attribution.