The shape of these shells is somewhat pyriformly ovate, the basic coloration is brown or violet-chesnut, with two or more zones of several white dorsal zigzag-bands and distinctive dark spots on the white base.

The extremities are edged with dark chesnut areas.

The Palmadusta diluculum virginalis subspecies is smaller, the terminal spots are less accentuated to absent and dark spots on the base are totally missing.

This species is widespread throughout the Western Indian Ocean along Sri Lanka, Aldabra, Eritrea, Kenya, Madagascar, the Mascarene Basin, Mauritius, Mozambique, Réunion, the Seychelles, Somalia and Tanzania.

This demersal tropical cowry can be found in the intertidal shallow waters in sandy to muddy areas, under stones and blocks of dead coral.