Essential oil (EO) of Artemisia maritima plants growing naturally in the cold desert region has been extracted by hydro distillation at different growth stages during 2015-16. The constituents of the EO have been characterized by gas chromatography (GC) and GC-mass spectrometry. Nineteen compounds were identified. EO content and composition vary throughout the vegetation period of the plant. The best time for higher EO content (0.45 +/- 0.15 %) is August, while for higher 1,8-cineole (59.24 +/- 1.63 %) is during October. EO of A. maritima was characterized by high content of 1,8-cineole, bornyl acetate, terpinen-4-ol, camphor, sabinene and germacrene D which varied from 90.54 +/- 7.76 to 92.41 +/- 6.50 % of the total oil content. The EO of A. maritima was evaluated for their acaricidal activity against two-spotted spider mite (Tetranychus urticae) (Acarina: Tetranychidae). EO reported excellent fumigant activity against T. urticae with LC50 value of 323.86, 27.05, 15.48 and 12.15 mgL(-1) after 1, 2, 3 and 4 h of treatment, respectively as compared to positive control i.e. Propargite 57 % EC (755.72 mgL(-1)). In repellent activity, 10000 mgL(-1) showed significantly higher repellency (95.83 +/- 1.67 %) to adult T. urticae and was at par with positive control i.e. Azadirachtin 0.15 % EC (96.67 +/- 3.33 %) and 8000 mgL(-1) (91.67 +/- 2.20 %) as compared to other concentrations studied.