Stable Isotope Enrichment (Δ15N) in the Predatory Flower Bug (Orius majusculus) Predicts Fitness-Related Differences between Diets.

ABSTRACT: Mass rearing of insects, used both as biological control agents and for food and feed, is receiving increasing attention. Efforts are being made to improve diets that are currently in use, and to identify alternative diets, as is the case with the predatory flower bug (Orius majusculus) and other heteropteran predators, due to the high costs of their current diet, the eggs of the Mediterranean flour moth (E. kuehniella). The assessment of alternative diets may include measurements of the predator's fitness-related traits (development time, weight, etc.), and biochemical analyses such as lipid and protein content in the diet and the insects. However, assessing diet quality via the predator's fitness-related traits is laborious, and biochemical composition is often difficult to relate to the

SUBMITTER: Montoro M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7240723 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature