It is kept folded back between the front legs when not used. Adults are winged and able to fly. They are found in nests of rats and will feed on any animal including humans. Oval, pearly-white eggs are laid singly from May to September. Each batch is laid after a blood meal.
Nymphs have eight instars requiring three years for the life cycle.
The conenose is a vector of Chagas disease prevalent in Mexico, Central America, and South America, where these bugs may colonize human habitations. This sometimes fatal disease, caused by a flagellate protozoan, has symptoms of swelling of the eyelids and face, loss of nervous control, high fever, anemia and destruction of the cardiac and skeletal muscles. This disease is not common in the United States. The bloodsucking bugs are active at night usually feeding on sleeping victims. These bugs are usually found outdoors in hollow trees, in raccoon and opossum dens, or near wood rat nests.