This moth has a wingspan of about 1 inch. It has a whitish background, dark blotches and 3-4 faint wavy lines across both sets of wings, with a small, dark spot at the center of each wing. The head and antennae are often tucked under so they are not visible. On a typical form (photo B) there is much black shading on the forewing and hindwing beyond the postmedian line. In other forms the black is reduced to a large spot at the inner margin of the forewing or totally absent (photo A). The caterpillar is brown or green, very elongate, and when mature, approximately 1.5 inches in length. There are several Scopula species in the east that look alike, so identification should be done carefully.
The adults are seen from May through August and are considered to be common in this area. The photographs shown here were taken in June in Fontenelle Forest and Neale Woods. Adults are attracted to lights.
The larval foodplants are woody shrubs, trees and some herbs including clovers, dandelion, elm, blackberry, blueberry and cherry. The fourth instar larva overwinters.
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