Nationally scarce (Nb) in dry pastures and waste ground in parts of England and Wales. On the Isle of Wight, recorded in the past from St Catherine's Down and Ventnor, but not since the 19th Century. Not recorded in Hampshire. Wingspan 15-19 mm. Distinguished from
E. lacteana by the contrasting fasciate markings and white ground colour of the forewing and the well-developed, distinctively marked ocellus [Bradley]. Larva feeds within stems and roots of Wormwood.