title: Energy budget of the grain mite, Acarus siro (Acari: Acaridae).
abstract: Immature individuals of Acarus siro L. ingest a total of 0.1408 J of food energy, 58.5% of which is consumed by the deutonymph, 27.1% by the protonymph and only 14.1% by the larva. The total ingestion is much greater (2.8169 J +/- 0.0981 SE). Much energy, 0.7031 J +/- 0.0231 SE, is used for egg production, which is concentrated in the first 20 days of adult life. Assimilation efficiency during this period varies from 63 to 71%. Most energy ingested between the 20th and 40th days of adult life is used in biomass production, and biomass increases significantly up to the 30th day. Afterwards, old individuals expend a large amount of assimilated energy on respiration due to the increased cost of maintenance.
authors.affiliation: Department of Applied Entomology, Agricultural University of Warsaw, Poland.
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Szlendak
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Kraszpulski
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001096:Arachnid Vectors / Q000378:metabolism*; D004734:Energy Metabolism; D005506:Food Contamination; D005519:Food Preservation; D008925:Mites / Q000378:metabolism*; D010101:Oxygen Consumption