Six designs were tried out to evaluate the efficiency of each regarding feeding the predatorymite, Amblyseius swirskiiAthias-Henriot (Acari: Phytoseiidae), on a liquid artificial diet, considering four criteria: the duration of the liquid-phase of the diet,the percentage of the mites that congregate to feed on the diet,the percentage of the mitesthat adhere to the diet, and the duration of sucking the diet up.
The most efficient design was based on providing the mites with a diet-saturated piece of thread connected to a little of the diet. For this, the piece of thread was passed through a 10 ml plastic pot containing a little of the diet. As soon as the piece of thread turns solid, it is pulled to be replaced with the next diet-saturated piece.
By applying that design to feed the mites on a diet composed of skim milk, honey, yolk, baker's yeast, and amino acid solution 10% at a volume ratio of 100:1:1:20:1, respectively, the diet that saturated the piece of thread remained in the liquid phase for an average of three hours; then, it turned solid. The ability of the diet located in the pot, to saturate more thread, lasted for five hours; then, it coagulated. The percentage of the mites that congregated to feed on the diet, in 30 minutes, amounted to an average of 83.33%. No individual stuck to the diet-saturated thread within the liquid-phase span. Sucking the diet continued for an average of 62.33 minutes.