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Head cream-coloured, antennae banded with brown on each segment, labial palpi porrect, heavily scaled, dorsally cream-coloured, ventrally yellow. Thorax of a cream colour, tegulae and metathorax yellow. Legs light grey. Forewings strongly hooked. Dorsal surface of forewings yellow, with brown scales restricted to a triangular area in the middle of forewing. Hindwings light grey, somewhat translucent proximally and basally, with long fringes. Ventral wing surfaces uniformly light grey. Legs and abdomen light grey. This species can be distinguished from the similarly looking Ypsolopha dentiferella by its mostly yellow forewings, whereas dentiferella has mostly brown forewings, with yellow scales restricted to a longitudinal band on the basal one third of its forewings.

Based on insect forest surveys data larvae feed on willow leaves (Salix spp.) and honeysuckle (Lonicera sp.). In British Columbia larvae were found feeding on flowers of snowberry (Symphoricarpos albus) (J. Tatum, web reference).

A very common species occurring throughout North America, from sea level up to elevations in excess of 1830 m (L. Lary, web reference). In Canada it occurs in most provinces, from B.C. (Scudder and Cannings 2007), Alberta (Bowman 1951) to Ontario (L. Scott, web reference). In Saskatchewan it was collected near Indian Head and Big River (forest insect surveys). This species is present in most of the continental U.S.