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A small (1.5-2.5 cm wingspan) broad-winged moth with rust or yellow-brown forewings and tan-tinted white hindwings. The forewings are essentially unmarked, with a diffuse slightly darker median band reaching the apex. The veins are all slightly darker and are visible against the ground. The hindwings are white with a very light tan tint, and with the brown fringe forming a narrow terminal band. In shape and size testacea resembles a small gemetrid moth, but the color and pattern will separate it, as will the different wing venation. Tortricidia testacea is the only member of the family Limacodidae (Slug-catterpillar Moths) found in Alberta.

The caterpillars are short-legged and slug-like, and give the family their name, the slug-caterpillar moths. They are solitary defoliators of deciduous trees. In Alberta there is apparently a single brood each year, with the adults emerging in June. The adults are attracted to light.

No Alberta data; elsewhere a variety of hardwoods have been reported as hosts, including oak (Quercus), beech (Fagus), birch (Betula), chestnut (Castanea), wild cherry (Prunus), hickory (Carya) and Mountain alder (Alnus). (Handfield, 1999; Prentice, 1965).

Nova Scotia and New Brunswick west to southern BC, south to the Gulf of Mexico states. In Alberta it has been collected mainly along the eastern edge of the province, from north of Fort McMurray south to the Wainwright dunes area, and in the Peace River area.