Gut Bacterial Diversity in Different Life Cycle Stages of Adelphocoris suturalis (Hemiptera: Miridae)

<jats:p>Bacteria and insects have a mutually beneficial symbiotic relationship. Bacteria participate in several physiological processes such as reproduction, metabolism, and detoxification of the host. <jats:italic>Adelphocoris suturalis</jats:italic> is considered a pest by the agricultural industry and is now a major pest in cotton, posing a serious threat to agricultural production. As with many insects, various microbes live inside <jats:italic>A. suturalis</jats:italic>. However, the microbial composition and diversity of its life cycle have not been well-studied. To identify the species and community structure of symbiotic bacteria in <jats:italic>A. suturalis</jats:italic>, we used the HiSeq platform to perform high-throughput sequencing of the V3–V4 region in the 16S rRNA of symbiotic bacteria found in <jats:italic>A. suturalis</jats:italic> throughout its life stages. Our results demonstrated that younger nymphs (1st and 2nd instar nymphs) have higher species richness. Proteobacteria (87.06%) and Firmicutes (9.43%) were the dominant phyla of <jats:italic>A. suturalis</jats:italic>. At the genus level, <jats:italic>Erwinia</jats:italic> (28.98%), <jats:italic>Staphylococcus</jats:italic> (5.69%), and <jats:italic>Acinetobacter</jats:italic> (4.54%) were the dominant bacteria. We found that the relative abundance of <jats:italic>Erwinia</jats:italic> was very stable during the whole developmental stage. On the contrary, the relative abundance of <jats:italic>Staphylococcus</jats:italic>, <jats:italic>Acinetobacter</jats:italic>, <jats:italic>Pseudomonas</jats:italic>, and <jats:italic>Corynebacterium</jats:italic> showed significant dynamic changes at different developmental stages. Functional prediction of symbiotic bacteria mainly focuses on metabolic pathways. Our findings document symbiotic bacteria across the life cycle of <jats:italic>A. suturalis</jats:italic>, as well as differences in both the composition and richness in nymph and adult symbiotic bacteria. Our analysis of the bacteria in <jats:italic>A. suturalis</jats:italic> provides important information for the development of novel biological control strategies.</jats:p>