The white-winged vampire bat was described by Dutch zoologist Fredericus Anna Jentink in 1893.

[3] Jentink decided to honor Young with the species name because "our Museum is indebted [to him] for so many additions to its collections of the British Guyana animals.

"[2] When it was described by Jentink in 1893, it was initially placed in the same genus as the common vampire bat, Desmodus.

[4] That move to a new genus was not immediately accepted, however, with authors continuing to place it in Desmodus until at least 1982.

The anterior surface of the tragus is hairy, and its outer margin is smooth, unlike that of the common vampire bat, which is serrated.

[9] Like other vampire bats, their saliva contains plasminogen activators, which rapidly dissolves the host's blood clots that form during feeding; platelet aggregation inhibitors, which prevent the formation of blood clots; and other anticoagulants.

[11][12] They are not as adept as common vampire bats at quadrupedal locomotion, possibly because their thumbs are much shorter.

[7] They have been found in Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, El Salvador, French Guiana, Guatemala, Guyana, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago, and Venezuela.

They prefer moist, open areas, but will still forage in dry deciduous or evergreen forests.

Each bat ingests approximately 16 ml (0.54 US fl oz) of blood per day.