It lays its eggs on the leaves, and it poses a threat to host plants by sucking cell contents from the leaves cell by cell, leaving very tiny, pale spots or scars where the green epidermal cells have been destroyed. Although the individual lesions are very small, commensurate with the small size of the mites, the frequently-observed attack of hundreds or thousands of spider mites can cause thousands of lesions and thus can significantly reduce the photosynthetic capability of plants, greatly reducing their production of nutrients, sometimes even killing the plants.
Usually, one would drive to the nearest Lowe's, buy some really nasty chemical stuff, spray the plant and be done with it. Unfortunately, if we would apply this to our plant, it would most certainly also kill our Mantids.
So my wife bought some chemicals that are applied through the water consumption of the plant, from the inside rather than the outside. This method takes longer and is less effective, so we hope that we did it in time, because those tiny bastards have already damaged the vetch a good deal.
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