The adult males have wings and fly in the evening and are strongly attracted to electric lights. Unlike the adult males, the rest of this insect's stages appear hidden beneath stones and leaves in contact with the soil. There they live within silken tubes and feed on molds, dead leaves, and fallen flowers. Indeed they are important recyclers. The enlarged leg segments are the location of the silk glands.

Webspinners are not an indigenous component of the Sonoran Desert. They were accidentally introduced from the Old World. They are restricted to well-watered habitats that are rare in the desert.

These strange-looking insects are sometimes mistaken for termites. Close inspection of the first pair of legs, however, shows an enlarged segment - a feature never present in termites.