The potato tuberworm is an old pest in North Carolina having been reported here as early as 1896. The host plants are Irish potato, eggplant, tomato, tobacco, pepper, nightshade, jimsonweed and horsenettle. The larvae of the potato tuberworm acts as a leaf miner on the foliage of the above crops and as a borer in potato tubers and to a lesser extent in tomato fruits. The insect has complete metamorphosis, that is, it goes through four developmental stages - adult, egg, larva and pupa.
Females are slightly larger than males.
The slender forewings have a fringe of hair near their base. They are gray to grayish-brown with darker brownish spots or dots. The yellowish- brown hind wings are shorter and have a fringe of hair along the entire hind margin. When first laid it is pearly white, later changing to yellow and finally brown. The head and prothoracic shield are always dark brown.