The entire life cycle is spent on the host. They are easily recognized by the gray-black body and relatively blunt head. There are noticeable conical bumps along the sides of the body. Shortnosed cattle lice are found more frequently on mature animals where they prefer to feed along the top of the neck and around to the dewlap and brisket. As numbers increase, these lice can be found from the base of the horns to the base of the tail.
Females attach white to brown eggs to hairs at the rate of one to four each day for about two weeks.
Eggs hatch in about two weeks and the immatures, or nymphs, reach the adult stage in about two weeks. Adults live 10 to 15 days. The longnosed cattle louse has a slender, pointed head and a narrow bluish black body. It is more commonly seen on calves and dairy stock and rarely occurs in large numbers on mature animals. This louse is usually most abundant on the dewlap and shoulders but will spread over the entire body when animals become heavily infested.