A medium size moth (forewing length about 35 mm) with dark blackish brown or reddish brown forewings crossed by darker antemedian and postmedian lines. The hindwings are dark brown. It can be separated from the very similar A. vancouverensis<,/i> by the elongate hollow basal dash and claviform streak filled with brown scales (black filled in vancouverensis). It is also similar to and difficult to separate from Agrotis volubilis. Males of volubilis have pale whitish wings while those of obliqua are dark. Many specimens of vancouverensis and obliqua are difficult to separate, and are frequently found misidentified in collections