Assessing Bulb Mite Rhizoglyphus robini as a Costs-Effective Alternative to Ephestia kuehniella Egg for Mass Rearing of Orius albidipennis

Articles in Press

Document Type : Original Research

Authors
Fatemeh Shahriari Nasab 1
Shahzad Iranipour 2
Abbas Rafat 3
1 Department of Plant Protection, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Tabriz, Tabriz, Islamic Republic of Iran.
2 Depaetment of Plant Protection, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Tabriz, Tabriz 5166614888, Iran.
3 Department of Animal Science, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Tabriz, Tabriz, Islamic Republic of Iran.
Abstract
Seven Iranian populations of Orius albidipennis Reuter (Hem.: Anthocoridae) from Gorgan, Varamin, Yazd, Shiraz, Karaj, Mashhad, and Shahrud were examined on two diets: Mediterranean flour moth (MFM) (Ephestia kuehniella Zeller, Lep.: Pyralidae) egg and all stages of bulb mite (Rhizoglyphus robini Claparède, Acari.: Acaridae). Life-table experiments were conducted to compare the populations and diets in terms of the egg hatch rate, developmental time, fecundity, and adult longevity, while Ephestia egg was generally the superior diet, responses varied among populations. Lifetime fecundity ranged between 46.9±10.4 and 104.1±12.1 eggs/female on MFM, and 2.5±1.5 and 16.4±4.0 on bulb mite. The Shiraz and Yazd populations exhibited the highest lifetime fecundity on MFM (104.1 and 102 eggs/female, respectively), whereas the intrinsic rate of increase was greatest in the Shiraz and Karaj populations (r =0.1899 ± 0.0096 and 0.1824 ± 0.0146 d⁻¹, respectively) on the same medium. The Yazd population displayed the highest r-value on bulb mite (0.0821±0.0149) along with favorable nymphal survival (80%) and female fertility rate (91%). Although bulb mite significantly reduced growth rates compared to MFM (r= -0.10-0.08 vs. o.13-o.19 d-1, respectively), it secured predation efficiency of O. albidipennis on two-spotted spider mite (Tetranychus urticae Koch). The findings suggest that O. albidipennis producers may exploit inter-population variation to select superior biocontrol agents. Certain populations exhibited adequate performance on bulb mite, which, according to our economic analysis, is a cost-effective alternative to Ephestia egg, reducing expenses by 7-9%.  Further work is required to achieve an adequately rich and affordable diet for mass rearing.   

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Subjects

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Journal of Agricultural Science and Technology

Articles in Press, Accepted Manuscript
Available Online from 14 January 2026