It is the primary vector of the bacterium that causes Epizootic Bovine Abortion, a severe and commercially-important disease afflicting domestic cattle.

The upper cuticle is pale beige-tan or grayish tan-brown in color, and has a granular ornamentation of bumps and pockmarks (described in the literature as shagreen).

In combination with the unusual body shape, large size, and distinctive coloration, these features allow for fairly reliable species-level field identification of O. coriaceus.

From Teglas et al., 2005:"Larvae, nymphs, and adults [of O. coriaceus] spend most of their life off of the host in the leaf litter or soil near the bedding sites of deer and cattle (Garcia, 1963).

Depending on environmental conditions, the nymphs may feed on three to seven hosts, dropping and molting after each blood meal, before ultimately developing into the adult stage (Smith, 1944, Garcia, 1963).

Herms (1916) studied the biting and feeding habits of O. coriaceus in an experimental setting using mice, rabbits, and rhesus macaques as hosts.

As with many invertebrate parasites, its small size and relatively low dispersal ability suggest that its biogeography is largely shaped by the movements of its host animals.

Free-roaming individuals of O. coriaceus are most often found near the bedding areas of deer, or in native habitats exposed to grazing by large numbers of cattle or horses.

More severe allergic reactions appear in persons previously bitten and thus sensitized to a substance injected during the tick's blood-feeding process."

Hamilton fear this parasite more than they do the rattlesnake, and tell weird tales of this or that man having lost an arm or leg, and in one instance even death having ensued, as the result of a bite by the Pajaroello.

The stories all agree in the essential detail that the bite results in an irritating lesion which is slow to heal and often leaves an ugly deep scar."

Although adult cows with prior exposure to the bacterium do not show serious symptoms when re-infected, antibodies cannot be transmitted to developing fetal calves.