This antshrike occurs in Costa Rica and Panama. The male is almost entirely black with white spots on the wings, and the species uses dense, tangled undergrowth in humid forest.
The male is nearly all black, with conspicuous white terminal spots on the wing coverts.
BirdLife International's assessment describes the species as restricted to dense, tangled undergrowth in humid forest. Its habitat table also lists moist lowland forest, mangroves, and moist montane forest as suitable.
An extinction-risk assessment has not been added yet.