The dorsal surface is felted with grey hairs, and a cottony secretion covers the body; the eyes are red.

It also feeds and shelters in other trees and shrubs including service berry, tobacco brush, mountain mahogany, white fir, various pines, Arbutus, black oak and manzanita.

Both adults and nymphs of this bug are predatory, feeding on a range of prey including spider mites, aphids, pear psyllids, leafhoppers and scale insects.

[2] If there is a shortage of insect prey in apple and pear orchards, these bugs are able to feed on plant tissues without damaging the trees to any great extent.

At 70 °F (21 °C), nymphal development takes about 25 days in the laboratory, and during this period, up to 400 eggs and nymphs of the pear psyllid (Psylla pyri) are consumed.