The larvae inhabits a fragile, pear shaped case and it has been hypothesised that they are lichen or alga browsers.

Larvae pupate at the end of June and adults emerge at the beginning of August until the middle of October.

This species was first described by Alfred Philpott in 1921, using adult moths reared from larvae collected on the Maitai Valley side of Botanical Hill in Nelson, and named Taleporia cawthronella.

[3]The larva inhabits a fragile case which is pear shaped and is approximately 6mm long and 3.5 mm wide.

[3] Hudson described the larvae of this species as follows: The head of the pupa is well separated from the thorax, and the legs reach quite to the extremity of the abdomen.

On the dorsal surface of the last abdominal segment there is a transverse row of stout recurved spines; these probably serve to keep the pupa from slipping from the case when the emergence of the imago is taking place.