In contrast, at 90 F, the pest completes a generation in about 7 days, and each adult female produces several hundred offspring. At this rate, if one female contributed 50 new females per generation, she alone would be responsible for 6.25 million female mites feeding in the field by the end of one month of 90 F temperatures. From this example, it is easy to see why spider mite outbreaks can occur rapidly during extended hot, dry periods. They are greenish white to green, and in some cases reddish. This mite can be identified from other mites by two dark spots on its abdomen.
Mites typically live in colonies and produce a thin web on lower leaf surfaces.
The larvae have six legs, while the nymphal and adult stages have eight legs. Both the larval and nymphal stages have little impact on yield. Adult females are responsible for most injury to soybeans. Spider mites have piercing-sucking mouth parts and feed by sucking sap from the plant. Mite injury somewhat resembles herbicide injury or some foliar diseases.