Infested conifers often have dead or stunted twigs and uneven growth. The armor of the females is circular to oval and is white and parchment-like. In the center is a light-yellow cast skin of the earlier female nymph stages. The armor of the male scale is oblong, white and about 1 mm long. At one end is the pale yellow cast skin of the crawler stage.
Adult males are tiny insects resembling gnats with four eyes and a tiny waxy tail filament.
Little is known of the biology of juniper scale insects. If they behave like other armored scales, these scales hatch from eggs laid by the mother scale under her armor. The tiny crawlers emerge to crawl about seeking a suitable place to feed. Males emerge from the male armor and seek females with which to mate. The males soon die.