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A medium sized, moth with a wingspan of 18-22 mm. The males have white forewings with extensive dark brown (fuscous) areas while the females have forewings that are slate gray. The hindwings are white with a number of small dark patches, especially in the alar angle. The head and thorax are dark brown while the abdomen is dark brown with white stripes. Unlike any other Alberta moth. The genitalia are described by Munroe (1972). Formerly placed in the Pyralidae, subfamily Nymphulinae, but now considered to be in the Family Crambidae, Subfamily Acentropinae, Tribe Nymphulini.

The larvae feed on waterlilies according to Munroe (1972), and Welch (1916 and 1924), however, the Alberta collections by Bird are from areas where waterlilies do not occur. It, therefore, appears, as the common name suggests, that other aquatic plants are also used as food sources.

A North American species that ranges from Nova Scotia to western Ontario and south to Michigan, Wisconsin and Florida (Munroe 1972). Not reported from Alberta by Bowman (1951). Reported from Saskatchewan and the Lac La Biche area of Alberta by Pohl et al (2004). Collected in Alberta in the Winfield and Buffalo Lake areas by Bird.