The water-willow stem borer is a robustly built moth with a greyish hairy body.

The forewings are buff or straw-coloured, darker at the base and in the peripheral region which is separated by a narrow dark band.

[1] Water-willow can be found in swampland, ditches and in shallow water at the edges of ponds, lakes and streams.

It often forms tangled clumps and occurs from Maine to Florida and west to Minnesota, Tennessee and Louisiana.

Here they grow, moulting several times, feeding on the vascular tissue of the plant and creating galleries.