Brown wheat mite spends the summer in the soil as a white egg resistant to hot, dry conditions. In the fall, as cooler, wetter conditions return, these eggs start to develop and hatch after a 10-day incubation. Males have not been observed in this species. As summer conditions return, white oversummering eggs are produced. Both red and white eggs are placed on soil particles adjacent to wheat plants.
Brown wheat mites feed on plant sap during the day and spend the night in the soil.
This mite is not affected by cold temperatures, but populations are quickly reduced by driving rains of inch or more. The economic threshold for brown wheat mite is not well defined, but it is at least several hundred mites per row-foot in the early spring. This figure will increase with lower wheat prices and decrease with higher wheat prices. It is often difficult to justify a chemical treatment since brown wheat mite infestations are associated with drought stress. If a driving rain of at least inch occurs, mite levels will be significantly reduced regardless of chemical treatment.