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A medium-size (approx. 3 cm wingspan) jet-black moth with 2 large pale yellow or cream spots on each forewing and one (female) or two (males) large cream or white spots on the hindwings. The tegulae (scale patch on "shoulders") are pale yellow, and the legs have orange tufts. Other Alberta Foresters have prominent black linings along the veins across the spots, giving them a striped appearance. These are absent or very faint in lantana. A smaller pyralid moth (Anania funebris) is superficially very similar, down to the yellow tegulae, but is much smaller (1.8-2.2 cm wingspan) and less robust.

There is a single brood in Alberta, with adults from early May through early July. Adults are diurnal and visit flowers for nectar. The larvae feed on fireweed (Epilobium sp.) The colorful caterpillars (orange speckled with black and with sparse long setae) are illustrated in color on several sites on the web.