Adults have four distinct black lines against a background color ranging from green to yellow, with an orange head and prominent, dark red eyes.

[3][4][5] This species has a wide host range, but shows strong preference for plants in the mint and composite families (Lamiaceae and Asteraceae).

[6] Both nymphs and adults feed on leaves creating the water-soaked patches of leaf tissues that may later dry up or fall out to produce tiny holes.

This is also true elsewhere: in the city of Lafayette in Indiana, the development was 2–3 weeks earlier than it was in Ithaca, New York.

[7] The insect is considered to be a minor pest, since it occasionally does damage to herbaceous plants, especially mints, and rarely to woody shrubs or small trees, including forsythia, dogwood, wild hydrangea, and sumac.