Local in woodland throughout England and Wales as far north as the Lake District and Northumberland. Uncommon in Hampshire, where absent from the south-west and north-east, and on the Isle of Wight. Wingspan 8-11 mm. Adults have purple markings on a metallic golden ground and orange head tufts. The larval food is apparently unknown, various alternatives have been suggested, including the pollen of oak, sycamore and other plants, minute particles of leaf litter, and fungal hyphae; larvae have been found up to 10cm deep in stony woodland soil.