[1] It is known from the eastern parts of the United States (from Maine to Michigan and south to Tennessee and Georgia) as well as south-eastern Canada (from Nova Scotia to Ontario).

The species occurs in shaded locations, in wet swampy woods, boggy ditches, or creek sides where leafy (moss-like) liverworts grow.

Adults are easily distinguished from those of the other members of the genus Epimartyria in possessing uniformly dark fuscous forewings without the yellowish spots present in those species.

The larvae feed on the leafy, moss-like species of liverwort, including Bazzania trilobata.

They possess a plastron which indicates the capacity to live for short periods in a subaquatic environment or, at least in a habitat that is water-saturated.