The larvae of this species make silk tunnels from which they mine the leaves of their host, the leather-leaf fern Pyrrosia eleagnifolia.

This species was described by Edward Meyrick in 1926 using a specimen collected by George Hudson on the banks of the Manawatu River in Ashhurst and named Scoparia molifera.

[3][4] Hudson discussed and illustrated this species in his 1928 book The butterflies and moths of New Zealand.

[5] John S. Dugdale discussed this species under the name S. molifera in his 1988 catalogue of New Zealand Lepidoptera.

Forewings elongate rather dilated (rather narrower than submarginalis), termen nearly straight, somewhat oblique; brown, somewhat paler towards dorsum, costal third suffused dark fuscous, narrowed to apex; lines whitish, first at 1⁄3, obtusely angulated below middle, second at 4⁄5, indented towards costa and near dorsum, excurved between these, subterminal incurved on median third and confluent centrally with second; orbicular and discal spots confluent to form a broad dark-brown streak adjacent to dark-fuscous costal area, cut by first line and extending before it half-way to base, claviform elongate, dark brown, confluent with this on posterior edge of first line; dorsal third irrorated white between first and second lines; a slender dark-fuscous terminal shade including a waved white marginal line: cilia pale-greyish, an interrupted fuscous median line on upper part of termen.