Minute Pirate Bug Orius insidiosus

Preferred food:
Minute Pirate Bugs, Orius spp., also known as flower bugs, are one of the most common general predators in field crops. Emerging early in the spring, their diet consists of a variety of small pests including thrips, whitefly, spider mites, aphids, psyllids, lygus bugs, small caterpillars and insect eggs. They particularly love to eat thrips and are known to attack the adult thrips; you may even see them from time to time with thrips stuck on their rostrum.

Release Orius indoors or out. Minute Pirate Bugs reproduce quickly, completing a total life cycle in just 3-4 weeks, making them effective at handling serious infestations quickly. Adults lay their eggs within available plant tissue. Nymphs emerge after 4-5 days and they become adults in 7-10 days. Minute Pirate Bugs will move efficiently throughout the infested plants, and will continue to kill even when they do not need to eat. Be sure to leave suitable habitat for them to overwinter as they will establish in most locations quite well.

Release Rates:
For maintenance, release 1 to 2 Orius per plant in greenhouses or 1 to 4 Orius per plant in hot spot areas outdoors. When treating a serious whitefly, aphid, thrips or other pest infestation, we recommend releasing up to 500 Orius per 250 sq. ft. area. For field crops, we recommend releasing between 100 and 2,000 Orius per acre, depending on the level of infestation.

Ships FedEx Priority Overnight Only.

When will my order ship?
• Orders ship Mondays and Tuesdays.
• Orders received by Wednesday will ship the following Monday or Tuesday (Minimum 5 day processing)

Ships FedEx Priority Overnight Only.
Select FedEx Priority Overnight at checkout. No other shipping methods are available to ship this item.

When will my order ship?
• Orders ship Mondays and Tuesdays.
• Orders received by Wednesday will ship the following Monday or Tuesday (Minimum 5 day processing).

If your total order includes other items, Next Day Air shipping charges may be applied to ship the other items. You may wish to place a separate order for other items to avoid being charged Next Day Air prices for those items.

Be aware that your order may arrive in 2 or more shipments depending upon what you have ordered. For example, beneficial insects may arrive a few days ahead of other products based upon the shipping method that was selected or required for particular items in your order.

Contact Customer Services if you have any questions about shipping rates or policies. Or read our Shipping Info & Policies.

Based on 1 review(s):


Minute Pirate Bug superstar - By Carol L. on Aug 30, 2010
I've ordered this little star thrip eater for the last 3 years. Sometimes they come in the bunching room on the Lisianthus I cut for sales. Such hard workers! Arbico's Minute Pirate bugs come ready to eat and multiply. Amazingly this year we had snow cover most of the winter and they overwintered here in zone 4b. I can't count on that every year so I will be ordering them again just as the Lisianthus is starting to bloom. Great control. So much better than spraying and a cost effective use of my time.


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