Effects of Different Diets on Biological Characteristics of Predatory Mite (Acari: Phytoseiidae).

In this study, we investigated the effects of different diets on the development and reproduction of the predatory mite . The results show that feeding on citrus red mite () led to the fastest life cycle completion (6.9 ± 0.22 days), the longest oviposition period (26.19 ± 0.46 days), the greatest female longevity (42.03 ± 0.43 days), and the highest total number of eggs per female (45.63 ± 0.94 eggs). Feeding on cysts resulted in the highest oviposition rate (1.98 ± 0.04 eggs), a high total number of eggs per female (33.93 ± 0.36 eggs), and the highest intrinsic rate of increase (r = 0.242). The hatching rate did not differ significantly among the five types of food, and the proportion of females ranged from 60% to 65% across all diets.