Rare (proposed as a future Red Data Book species) on chalk downland, dry pastures and calcareous grassland in south-eastern England, from the Isle of Wight to south Essex. In Hampshire restricted to a handful of sites, including Noar Hill and Portsdown Hill; very rare on the Isle of Wight. Wingspan male 5.2-6.4 mm, female 4.0-5.6 mm. Imago very similar to that of
E. angulifasciella, from which separable only by dissection of the genitalia. Adults difficult to distinguish from other
Ectoedemia species, and more frequently recorded in the larval stage, when mines are relatively easy to find where they are present. Larva mines leaves of Agrimony, over-wintering as a pupa.