This pest is not known to be established in the United States. The first name is favored because it calls attention to the distinctive adult coloration. Larvae will often drop from the leaf and hang on a silken thread when disturbed. Early instar larvae are leaf skeletonizers which means that they eat only a portion of the leaf to form an irregular network of minute clear areas.
Later instars eat the entire leaf, at most leaving the midrib, or other veins.
Larvae move like inch-worms, looping along, because they appear to have only two abdominal prolegs. Pupae are green with a brown dorsum, or are totally brown, and are usually attached to the underside of leaves or any suitable substrate in a silken cocoon. The adult of C. chalcites is relatively easy to screen for in trap samples. The ground color of the forewing is usually gold, hence the common name golden twin spot is very appropriate. A few specimens may show a bronze-colored forewing but the twin spots are still present.