A 10X would be perfectly adequate for this purpose. You can certainly find something more powerful, but it would be overkill for what you need. Considering that spider mites can actually be seen with the naked eye, you'll be very interested in what they look like at 10X!

Great! A 10x is within my budget so I'm glad to hear that. Thanks rhizo : )

I use a 16X, about 3/4" viewing area. Have found it to be a bit more usefull than a 10X and not as much of a pain to use as a 20X(those have a much smaller viewing area and are more sensative when trying to focus on something). Run you about $12.95 from BioQuip (a bug geek supply site)

When I first looked through my 10X B&L lighted coddington at a spidermite it startled me. 10X is plenty.

thanks for taking the time to reply everyone. I'll go for the 10x then. :)