Wingspan: 10–12 mm.
Yellow-brown forewings with yellow-white scales. Some specimens have scattered dark gray scales. Whitish along inner half of anterior margin.
Antennae gray or ringed.

It makes a straight silken case covered by leaves or the leaf epidermis of the food plant and very fine sand particles. Frequently also slightly larger sand grains are found on the surface of the case. Typically, there are also darker longitudinal stripes. A small trivalved tubular silken case with a mouth angle of 35–45°.

The larva mines and feeds externally on the leaves and also feeds on seeds.

The larva feed on Sagina nodosa