This parasite undergoes an alternation of generations. Parasitic adults are protandrous hermaphrodites, living in the lungs of amphibians. Eggs are released, are carried up the trachea, enter the esophagus, and pass in the feces. By the time they leave the host, most eggs have hatched and first-stage larvae are present.
On the soil, the parasite passes through four larval stages, possessing a rhabditiform esophagus, and become free-living, dioecious adults. The adults mate and the eggs hatch end develop within the uterus of the female. Larval development within the female proceeds to the L3, this time possessing a filariform esophagus. The female is killed and the infective filariform L3 are released. These L3 penetrate the skin of the amphibian host, migrate to the lungs, complete their molts to the adult stage, and mature.