The life cycle of "Ditylenchus destructor" lasts approximately 6 days. As "Ditylenchus destructor" is an endoparasite, a majority of the life cycle occurs inside the host tissue. There are four molting periods and juvenile stages of development for "Ditylenchus destructor" with the first juvenile stage occurring within the egg. Females deposit eggs inside the tuber from their ovaries at which point the embryos begin undergo a cleavage process, beginning the first juvenile stage. Two and a half hours later the juvenile nematode can be seen through the egg wall, and 48 hours later the first larval stage has completed and hatching occurs. Hatching marks the molting into the second juvenile stage, and development continues until the next molting. In the third juvenile stage the sexual structures begin to develop and become visible. This development of additional structures causes large amounts of growth and elongation is seen in the nematode (especially in females who have more development occur). It is in the fourth stage where the sexual structures fully develop: vaginal development in females and testes development in males. At this point the nematodes undergo their final molting and enter the final, adult stage in their life cycle. After feeding on a host for some time, the females lay eggs inside the tuber, the eggs are fertilized by a male, and the cycle repeats.