It is found in North America from Nova Scotia west to Vancouver Island, south to Florida, Colorado and central California.

Western populations of O. semirufescens are paler and greyer than those from eastern Canada, and superficially resemble the southern Oligocentria perangulata.

Adults are on wing from May to September, but from June through early August in Alberta.

The larvae feed on various trees and shrubs, including apple, beech, birch, poplar, oak, maple, rose and willow.

This article on a moth of the family Notodontidae is a stub.