Female fern scale armor is oystershell or pear shaped, flat, light brown with the crawler cast skin a paler brown. Sometimes the second stage armor is also paler than the adult armor. They are 1.5 to 2.5 mm long. The male armor is white felted, three-ridged, and the crawler cast skin is beige to yellowish brown.
Adult males are tiny, two winged, gnatlike insects that are easily overlooked.
Eggs of armored scales are usually oval and about 0.2 mm long. They are laid in groups under the female armor. Fern scale crawlers are about 0.2 mm long, flat, and yellow with red eyes. The legs and antennae are well developed. Female second-stage nymphs secrete an oval, pale brown armor about 0.8 mm long.