Emerging adults are reddish-orange for a few hours after emerging from the pupal case before turning black. Habitat Fruit orchards, strawberry fields, crops attacked by spider mites. Pests attacked Stethorus punctum is strictly a predator of plant-feeding mites, particularly the spider mites such as the European red mite and the twospotted spider mite, and especially the eggs. Life cycle S. punctum overwinters in the adult stage beneath leaves and other organic matter under fruit trees and in other protected habitats near the orchard, such as fence rows or adjacent wooded areas. Adults begin to emerge at the tight cluster stage of apple development with peak emergence from the pink to bloom stage.
Emergence is usually complete by the petal fall stage.
Adults remain active in the orchard until September to late October. Egg laying occurs in most areas from May to mid-August. Eggs are laid close to the primary veins of the leaf and adhere tightly, with 95 percent on the undersurface of the leaf and 5 percent on the upper surface. The larva emerges after approximately 5 days. The larva passes through four larval stages in about 12 days, feeding on all stages of mites.