Adults are dark brown above and beneath. The face is dark, and there is no white spot on the antennae. The forewing white spots tend to be small. This is the only Missouri cloudywing in which the adult males have a costal fold (that’s a small folded-over portion on the top side of the leading edge of the forewing; it contains cells that emit pheromones that are important in courtship).
Larvae are green with a darker line running along the back, and with two pinkish lines along the sides. The head is black.
Similar species: Our cloudywings all have a solid brown ground color on the top. Southern cloudywing (T. bathyllus) has a pale gray or whitish face, white at the bend in the antennae and large white spots on the forewings. Confused cloudywing (T. confusis) is similar to the southern, but it does not have white on the antennae.