These plants grow to form floating mats on the surface of calm or still bodies of water like ponds, lakes, and slow-moving rivers.

Moth populations can survive year round in habitats where food resources and adequate temperatures are sustained through the winter.

Additionally, a lack of sufficient nitrogen intake during early development leads to decreased ability to digest and utilize food throughout the rest of the insect's life.

This behavior does not usually mitigate the poor quality food, however, and larvae on nitrogen-depleted host plants still experience slower development and decreased digestive efficiency.

[5] Caterpillars construct a silk cocoon inside of a leaf petiole on their host plant in order to pupate.

[5] After they emerge from their cocoons, adult salvinia stem-borer moths spend the rest of their three- or four-week life span around their host plants, mating and laying eggs.

Female moths lay an average of 150 eggs over the course of several days on the surfaces of host plant leaves or among hairs or leaflet structures.

[4] Moths prefer the host plant P. stratiotes for laying eggs due to its structure which provides abundant oviposition surfaces.

Parasitism rates are fairly high in some populations, which diminishes their effectiveness at controlling weedy host plants.

Parasitism rates remain steady through spring, summer, and fall and decrease slightly during winter months.

While C. salviniae and S. multiplicalis both have similar habitat needs, including common host plants, similar nitrogen requirements, and an optimal temperature of 30 °C, S. multiplicalis populations are highly susceptible to parasites and parasitoids, which prevent the colony growth and dispersal that would be required for effective weed control.

S. multiplicalis actually has a higher rate of reproduction and dispersal than C. salviniae, but infection prevalence still prevents sufficient levels of feeding to significantly affect S. molesta numbers.