Adults are about 1/2 inch long and light brown to yellowish brown; females are slightly darker than males. Male body shape is long and slender, female shape is short and broad.
The pronotum has two black longitudinal stripes. Nymphs are brownish black with a pale stripe down the center; the margins of the abdomen have a light stripe.
Egg case contains 35 to 48 eggs, and hatching occurs within 24 hours after the egg case is deposited. Females produce four to eight egg cases. Development 54 to 215 days. There are five to seven nymph stages in males and six to seven in females. Adults live about 200 days.
Habits. Survival without food or water is about eight days for males and 12 days for females; survival with water is 10 days for males and 42 days for females. Females preparing to produce an egg case leave the harborage to feed for about five days. Females carrying an egg case remain in or forage close to the harborage, but males and large nymphs forage long distances. Sticky traps containing females with egg cases indicate that an infested harborage is close by; sticky traps with males and large nymphs are probably not near an infested harborage.