The connexium usually has dark brown, reddish, and light blue bands.

Its distinguishing characteristic is a pair of projections extending forward from the shoulders at the front of its dorsal thorax.

Their main food source is any of several species of oaks, but they can also be found on alder, hazel, and other deciduous trees, including apple and cherry.

Females lay eggs during the summer in the cracks of tree bark, or on a leaf top, and the larvae hatch the following spring.

[2] Forest bugs are also an agricultural and garden pest, as they feed on fruit and nut trees.