Mite Life Cycles

Egg

• Female mites can lay eggs once they are about 1 month old and can lay between 40 and 80 eggs during the rest of their lifespan. The eggs will hatch after one week. Mites reproduce sexually like other animals. The males latch onto the female using their front legs. Males are very keen to mate due to a shorter life span.

Larva

• Once the eggs have hatched the mite enters the larval stage of development. At this point it has six rather than eight legs.

Protonymph

• After three to ten days the mites molt their exoskeleton to enter the protonymph stage of development. At this point they are nearing sexual maturity and have developed another two legs.

Tritonymph

• The final stage before adulthood occurs between four and eight days after the larva stage and involves the shedding of the exoskeleton again to accommodate the mites growth. In another four to eight days the mite will shed its skeleton for the last time and become an adult mite.

Adulthood

• Male mites entire life cycle can last as little as 19 days. They have very little time as an adult so reproduction is the only goal remaining. Female mites live for up to 70 days and so have a long adult life phase, most of which is spent mating and laying eggs.