352 MANUAL OF VEGETABLE-GARDEN INSECTS 



The mite varies greatly in color from greenish through yel- 

 lowish to orange or reddish ; some are brownish. Usually 

 the body is marked with one to three pairs of black spots. In 

 some cases the spots are confluent and the mite appears black. 

 The eyes are red. The legs are pale and in the male the two 

 front pairs are usually tinged with reddish. Seen from above 

 the mite's body is broadl}' ovate in out- 

 line. It is not divided into three regions 

 as in insects. The mouth-parts consist 

 of a pair of sharp needle-like protrusile 

 bristles and a pair of shorter fixed spines. 

 In feeding the mite pierces the epidermis 

 of the leaf with its mouth-parts and 

 through the puncture extracts the juices 

 of the plant. This mite covers its feed- 

 ing grounds with a maze of delicate 

 silken threads. The silk is produced by 

 glands opening near the tip of the body. 

 The claws at the tip of the legs are 

 especially adapted to enable the mite to 

 travel over the web. 



The female deposits her spherical, pearly 

 white eggs, about 2^^ inch in diameter, 

 singly on the underside of the leaves, to 

 which they are usually attached by strands 

 of silk. As the eggs develop they take on a reddish hue and 

 the eyes of the embryo become evident as small red spots. 

 Each female is capable of laying from 50 to 100 eggs over a 

 period of nearly a month. The eggs hatch in three to eight 

 days. On hatching the young mite is provided with only 

 three pairs of legs ; it is about y^ inch in length and the 

 body is nearly spherical in outline when viewed from above. 

 The young mite soon begins feeding near the egg-shell and 

 in about three days molts its skin. In the second stage 



Fig. 221. — The red- 

 spider (X 66). 



