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A bright yellow geometrid, with the PM band of reduced to a few maroon-brown spots. The AM band is usually only present as a brown spot at the forewing costa; variable maroon speckling overall. Difficult to separate reliably from X. sospeta without genitalic dissection, see McGuffin (1981). Sospeta is slightly larger and paler yellow than urticaria, with narrower and relatively smaller maroon markings.

Adults are nocturnal and come to lights, but are also active during the day and are easily flushed from shrubs in aspen forest understory. Females are capable of laying over 800 eggs (McGuffin 1981). Larvae are twig mimics and rest with their body fully extended, like a twig on a branch, and feign death when disturbed (Wagner et al. 2001). In Alberta, this species is the more common of the two Xanthotype species.