Overwintering females are red or orange. They are very small, but still visible. The eggs vary from transparent and colorless to opaque straw yellow. The first stage larva is colorless to pale green or yellow and has only six legs.
Nymphs are similar to adults except in size.
Large spots of black may develop on each side. Biology Twospotted spider mites are widely distributed in the United States and feed on over 180 host plants, including over 100 cultivated species. Violets, chickweed, pokeweed, wild mustard and blackberry are common sources from which mites spread to nearby crops. Twospotted spider mites pierce the epidermis of the host plant leaf with their sharp, slender mouthparts. When they extract the sap, the mesophyll tissue of the leaf collapses in the area of the puncture.