Local on heathland and in open woodland throughout much of Britain; rare in Ireland. Probably under-recorded in Hampshire and on the Isle of Wight, where the extent of known records correlate with those areas in which the recording effort is concentrated. Wingspan 10.5-13 mm. Like many of the Coleophora, imagines are virtually impossible to identify without recourse to dissection, and the larvae, which live in cases of characteristic form and which can sometimes be found on the foodplant, may be easier to identify by comparison against a reference collection. Larva mines leaves of Birch, living within a movable case.