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A medium-sized (18-25 mm wingspan) Eucosmine moth. The forewings are long and somewhat pointed, yellow-brown or olivaceous-brown with a primarily longitudinal pattern of lighter streaks and lines. The hindwings are sooty black with a pale fringe. The genus is characterized by the lack of a costal fold in the male forewings. The forewings lack the basal patch and the median longitudinal white streak found in many members of the genus. The males have a somewhat inconspicuous though clearly defined ocelloid patch. The strigulations near the costa are characteristic, as is the small darker streak on the basal third of the wing the way out from the thorax. The many Alberta members of the genus are best separated by the unique combination of colors and markings on the upper side of the forewings.

"The larva of montanana, according to data on a reared specimen recently received from Mr. L. P. Rockwood, of Forest Grove, Oregon, bores in the roots of 'sage brush' ('Artemisia dracunculo').”"(Heinrich 1923).

A northern Great Plains species. Phaneta montanana has been reported from southern Manitoba and Saskatchewan, Montana, Oregon and Colorado (Heinrich 1923, Kearfott 1905). Donald J. Wright (pers. comm.) has also seen specimens from North Dakota and eastern Montana. In Alberta, known only from single specimens collected at Elkwater Lake on 10 June 1956 by E.E. Sterns (CNC) and at the Pakowki Lake dunes on 19 May 2005 by G.G. Anweiler (UASM).