The life cycle of Porphyrophora hamelii is mostly subterranean. Newly hatched nymphs emerge from the ground in the springtime and crawl until they find the roots of certain grassy plants that grow in saline soil, such as Aeluropus littoralis ( (genus Aeluropus), literally "worm's grass") and the common reed Phragmites australis. The nymphs continue to feed on these roots throughout the spring and summer, forming protective pearl-like cysts in the process. From mid-September to mid-October adults emerge from the ground between 5 a.m. and 10 a.m. to mate.Cardon (2007) cites her own field mission in Armenia in 1989 as well as the papers by Jakubski (1965) and Mktrtchian and Sarkisov (1985) for her description of Porphyrophora hamelii biology, which states that the mating time is from 5 a.m. to 10 a.m. The Soviet Armenian Encyclopedia (1982) and the online Red Book of Armenia (which cites Mktchyan and Sarkisov (1985) and others) state that the mating time is from 6 a.m. to 11 a.m. Note that in 1982 and 1985 the emergence of the insects in early September would have been in Armenian Summer Time (UTC+5), whereas the Republic of Armenia has been on UTC+4 time year-round since 2012. The adult insects, lacking mouthparts, do not feed. Adult males live for only a few days, but adult females can live longer, burrowing into the ground to lay their eggs.
