For tropical houseplant enthusiasts, greenhouses, and ornamental growers, mites can be both a hidden threat and a valuable ally. Some species cause significant plant damage, while others play a crucial role in biological control programs. 

Accurate identification is essential for effective management — it allows you to: 

This guide is designed to help you recognize both pests and predatory mites. Grab a good hand lens or a digital microscope like a Dino-Lite and get ready to start your mite-identifying adventure. Think of it as a fun and valuable skill — because at some point in your growing journey, mites will find their way onto your plants. 

Pest Mites:  

1. Tetranychus urticae (Two-Spotted Spider Mite) 

Size: Adults 0.4–0.5 mm long; visible with a hand lens. 

Colour: Variable (light green, yellow, orange red), depending on host plant and season. In diapause (low light months), they will be a reddish color.  

Key feature: Two distinct dark spots on either side of the body (gut contents visible through cuticle).

Webbing: Produces fine silk webbing on the leaves, especially under high populations. 

Eggs: Round, translucent, often clustered on webbed surfaces. 

Damage symptoms: Fine stippling, yellowing, bronzing, and leaf drops. 

Notes: Highly polyphagous (eating a large variety of plants) and rapidly developing under warm, dry conditions. Slow-moving. In small infestations, they tend to cluster on the underside of leaves, where they feed on plant sap.  

2. Polyphagotarsonemus latus (Broad Mite) 

Size: Adults 0.2 mm (barely visible to the naked eye; you will need a microscope to identify). 

Colour: Transparent to pale yellow 

Key feature: The eggs are the best way to identify this pest mite species. They are distinctly elliptical with white “spines” or protuberances, giving a “speckled” appearance. 

Damage symptoms: Distorted, hardened, or curled dark brown edges of young leaves and growing tips. Often confused with herbicide or viral injury. Frequently, the lower leaves of plants remain unaffected while the younger leaves are badly damaged. In peppers, they will attack the calyx (part of the stem that connects to the very top of the pepper).  

Notes: Slow-moving. Common hosts include peppers, ornamentals, cucumbers, and cannabis.

3. Phytonemus pallidus (Cyclamen Mite) 

Size: Adults 0.25 mm (barely visible to the naked eye; you will need a microscope to identify). 

Colour: Creamy-white to translucent, slightly shiny. 

Key feature: The eggs are the best way to identify this pest mite species. They are distinctly oval in form, smooth, transparent, and twice as long as they are wide. Both ends are equally rounded.  

Damage symptoms: Distorted leaves, stunted petioles, and damaged buds. Brittle crinkled new growth; bronzed flower buds. Damage can resemble damage caused by herbicide or viral injury. In peppers, they will attack the calyx (part of the stem that connects to the very top of the pepper). 

Notes: Common hosts include cyclamen, strawberry, African violet, and peppers. Concealed in tight folds or crowns of young leaves and flower buds — extremely difficult to see without dissection. 

4. Aculops cannabicola (Hemp Russet Mite) 

Size: Adult is extremely small (0.15–0.2 mm), worm-like, visible only under >40× magnification.  

Colour: Translucent to light beige. 

Key Feature: Elongated, spindle(torpedo)-shaped body with two pairs of legs at the front. 

Damage symptoms: Leaf curling, bronzing, and brittle texture on the upper canopy. Reduced trichome production and flower deformation. Infestations often go unnoticed until damage is severe. 

Notes: Host specific to cannabis and hemp. Usually develops on stems and petioles. When infestations are large, mites will be found on the underside of the leaves.  

5. Brevipalpus phoenicis (False Spider Mite or Flat Mite) 

Size: 0.3 mm; flattened body (hence the name). Barely visible to the naked eye, you will need a microscope to identify them. 

Colour: Reddish orange, green to brown. 

Movement: Slow and deliberate, often on leaf undersides. 

Key Feature: They lay clusters of reddish-orange eggs, which are more easily seen with the naked eye than any other life stage. Eggs have a tail-like projection that extends from the slightly pointed side of the egg. A day before hatching, the eggs become opaque and acquire red eyes.  

Damage symptoms: Silvery or bronzed patches on leaves.  

Notes: Common host plants are ornamental plants, citrus, orchids, and tropical foliage, especially hoyas. Does not spin webs (hence the name). 

6. Oligonychus ununguis (Spruce Spider Mite) 

Size: Adult is 0.5 mm; darker than T. urticae. Visible with a hand lens. 

Colour: Dark reddish-brown or greenish black with faint body markings. 

Key Feature: Type of plant that is affected (conifer), when the damage is noticed (seasonal feeding), and the coloration of the adults (reddish brown, greenish black).  

Damage symptoms: Fine stippling progressing to bronzing or browning of needles. Lower branches are typically affected first. Webbing is produced. 

Notes: Common hosts include conifers like spruce, pine, arborvitae, and hemlock. Most active during cool spring and fall temperatures (unlike T. urticae). Webbing is sparse compared to two-spotted spider mites. Pest overwinters in the egg stage, mostly on twigs. 

Predatory Mites:

1. Phytoseiulus persimilis (Spidex) 

Role: Specialist predator of Tetranychus spider mites. 

Size: Adults 0.5-0.6 mm (like spider mites but faster moving). Visible with a hand lens. Pear-shaped body with long legs adapted for rapid movement.  

Colour: Bright orange-red when feeding; translucent when starved or in the Spidex Vital formulation. 

Eggs: Oval, transparent and slightly pink, laid singly among spider mite colonies. Approximately twice the size of a spider mites' egg.  

Behavioral clues: They are actively found hunting within spider mite webbing. Populations decline once prey is exhausted. 

Notes: Phytoseiid mites have no eyes and therefore rely on volatiles released by damaged plants and their tactile sense to find their prey. When moving, the mites stir their first pair of legs up and down in the air as these legs bear sensory organs to register volatiles emitted by damaged plants. 

2. Stratiolaelaps scimitus (Entomite-M) 

Role: Soil-dwelling predatory mite, targets fungus gnat larvae, thrips pupae, and other soil-dwelling pests 

Size: Adults are 0.8–1 mm, larger than most foliar predatory mites. Easily seen with the naked eye, when you know what to look for. Oval, slightly flattened, with long legs adapted for running in the soil. 

Colour: Pale brown to tan, brown legs, and brown mouthparts. 

Key Feature: Clearly visible brown dorsal shield. Females have a white stripe on the rear end of the body.  

Notes: Can be applied preventatively or at early pest detection. Unlike foliar predatory mites, they remain in the soil or substrate and rarely move onto plant leaves. Fast-moving. 

3. Other Predatory Mites (Indistinguishable Macroscopically) 

Includes Neoseiulus californicus, Neoseiulus cucumeris, Amblyseius swirskii, Amblyseius andersoni, and Amblydromalus limonicus. 

Role: Depending on the predatory mite, they feed on thrips larvae and eggs, whitefly larvae and eggs, spider mites, and other pest mite species.  

Size: Adults 0.4–0.5 mm. They are visible with a hand lens. Pear-shaped bodies. 

Color: Translucent beige to light tan, but the color can vary based on the prey that they are eating.  

Eggs: Eggs are laid on the underside of leaves, often in the axil of veins. They are oval, white, and approximately 0.14 mm in diameter.   

Notes: Adults are highly mobile and found in the axils of leaves (veins, crevices), in flowers, or in the canopy, depending on species. No visible distinguishing marks with standard hand lenses or microscopes under field conditions. Species-level identification requires DNA barcoding or morphometric analysis by a specialist. This limitation highlights the importance of sourcing predatory mites from reliable biocontrol suppliers who provide verified species. 

4. Anystis baccarum  

Role: Generalist predatory mite, feeds on thrips, aphids, spider mites, and other small arthropods 

Size: Large for a mite, adults are 1–1.5 mm. They are very easily seen with the naked eye.  

Colour: Bright red orange to reddish brown. 

Key Feature: The legs are covered with numerous fine, short hairs, and its mouth parts project forward from its head. Rounded body at the rear, and narrower in the front. 

Eggs: Brown to orange, 0.2 mm in size. They occur in tight clusters (12-24) or sometimes in a line on leaves, under loose bark, or in the topsoil of plants.  

Notes: Larger size and fast movement make it relatively easy to spot compared to foliar predatory mites like Phytoseiulus persimilis or Amblyseius species. Active on leaves and flowers, often moving quickly across plant surfaces.