Recognized by its bright orange or red pigmentation, this species grows on rocks, often near bird or rodent perches.

[3] In 2003, Sergey Kondratyuk and Ingvar Kärnefelt transferred the taxon to their newly circumscribed genus Rusavskia, in which it is the type species.

[11] Rusavskia elegans was one of the first species used for lichenometry,[12] a technique of estimating the age of rock faces by measuring the diameter of the lichen thalli growing on them.

After an initial period of one or two decades to establish growth (the ecesis interval), R. elegans grows at a rate of 0.5 mm per year for the first century, before slowing down somewhat.

[9] It has also adapted successfully to growth on man-made and natural growing surfaces from the sea-water spray zone to the boreal forest and in the grasslands of the continental interior.

[20] R. elegans has survived an 18-month exposure to solar UV radiation, cosmic rays, vacuum and varying temperatures in an experiment performed by the ESA outside of the ISS.