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A medium-size (3.5-4.2 cm. wingspan) violet grey and reddish brown moth. The forewing base has a very thin black basal streak, the central area is darker grey with a minute raised discal dot, usually surrounded by a diffuse dark grey blotch. The postmedian line is doubled, scalloped and reddish brown, the subterminal line is incomplete and blurred, and there is a well-defined whitish apical patch. The hindwing is white, with shading along the outer veins and forming a narrow but incomplete band along the outer margin, with a dark blotch at the anal angle. The male antennae are pectinate to beyond the midpoint, then abruptly reduced to a simple rachis. Females are darker, especially the hindwings, and the lines are more diffuse and indistinct. Similar to and easily confused with Oligocentria semirufescens, especially worn specimens. The thin, sharp basal streak and doubled postmedian line of leptinoides, and in particular the diffuse dark area on the base and lower inner margin of the forewing in semirufescens will separate the two species. Both the genitalia and the form of the 8th sternite are very different in the two species. See also S. unicornis and S. ipomoeae.