Two days in a box is nothing to a predatory mite.
People picture a bottle of tiny animals bouncing around the back of a delivery truck and assume the worst. It's a kind thought. It also gives the mites far too little credit.
We send out more than 15,000 orders a year. The mites have had a lot of practice.
They've survived worse
Predatory mites are outdoor animals. A normal week for them involves baking sun on a leaf, a cold snap overnight, a rainstorm, wind, and a long list of things that would like to eat them.
Two days in a padded box with food, moisture and nobody hunting them? That's a spa weekend.
Heat doesn't faze them. Neither does cold. That's why we ship them right through summer and winter.
Two days out of a whole life
Here's the part that puts the trip in its place. A predatory mite lives for weeks. Some of our beetles live for months. Two days on a truck is a sliver.
The trip vs. a lifetime
How long adults live, in days, in published lab studies at room temperature with food. Each bar starts at zero.
Predatory mites
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Stratiolaelaps scimitus27–84 days
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Amblyseius andersoni31–40 days
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Amblyseius swirskii25–40 days
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Neoseiulus californicus28–36 days
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Phytoseiulus persimilis25–36 days
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Neoseiulus cucumeris25–29 days
Insects we ship as adults
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Rhyzobius lophanthae121–171 days
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Cryptolaemus montrouzieri61–96 days
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Ladybugs (Hippodamia convergens)35–51 days
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Dalotia coriariaabout 48 days
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Orius insidiosus17–42 days
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Diglyphus isaea25–29 days
Lacewing eggs, Aphidius mummies and Aphidoletes pupae aren't on the chart, because they ship before they hatch. Their adults come out at your place, so the trip isn't part of their adult life at all.
Lifespans vary with temperature and food; ranges span the studies cited. Sources: Yang et al. 2020 (S. scimitus) · Li et al. 2019 (A. andersoni, 17–20 °C) · Bazgir et al. 2018 (A. swirskii) · AJESA and Braz. J. Biol. (N. californicus) · Saemi et al. 2017 (P. persimilis) · Yazdanpanah et al. 2022 (N. cucumeris) · Stathas 2000 (R. lophanthae) · J. Biol. Control (C. montrouzieri) · Rashed et al. 2020 (H. convergens) · Echegaray & Cloyd 2013 (D. coriaria) · Tommasini et al. 2004, Bull. Insectology 57 (O. insidiosus) · Kim et al. 2007, Korean J. Appl. Entomol. 46 (D. isaea).
The ice pack is a humidifier
The ice pack isn't there to keep anything cold. As it melts, condensation forms on it, and that moisture raises the humidity inside the box. Most predatory mites are happiest when the air is a little damp, so the pack is really a tiny humidifier that happens to start out frozen.
Is there research proving it helps? Not that we know of. We've shipped a lot of mites, and our belief is that it does.
It always arrives warm. That's not a failure. That's a pack that finished its shift.
Why 2-day and not overnight
We do ship some orders overnight. Most go 2-day, because on most routes we can't see any difference in the mites between the two.
If you'd rather have them sooner anyway, overnight is an upgrade away.
They travel with a packed lunch
A hungry predator isn't a desperate one. Most predatory mites go about seven days without food without complaint, and plenty go longer.
They don't have to, though. Their carrier comes stocked with food mites, like Carpoglyphus lactis, so the trip comes with snacks.
Here's the part that surprises people. The food mites are usually what you see. They're a good deal bigger than the predators, so if something in there is moving, odds are it's lunch.
And if the predators ate well on the road, you may find a whole lot of dead food mites. That isn't a bad shipment. That's evidence of a very good trip.
Sachets show this best. Each one is a small breeding colony with its own pantry, so a busy sachet can look like the table after a long dinner party.
Will the food mites hurt my plants?
No. Scientists call them factitious prey, which is a fancy way of saying lunch we raised on purpose. They're pantry mites. They live on the bran in the carrier, not on living plants.
Out on your plants, they're out of their element and on the menu. They don't last.
The predators themselves? You probably won't spot them. They're tiny, and they have work to do. Fewer pests week on week, and clean new growth: that's how you know they've clocked in.
When the weather gets extreme
We keep an eye on temperatures along the route. If something looks extreme, we'll get in touch and ask whether you'd like us to hold your order or send it on.
Your call. The Live Delivery Guarantee stays in place either way.
Some routes get special handling
A few shipping lanes just aren't kind to mites or insects. When an order is headed down one of those, we may switch carriers, or suggest an overnight upgrade so the trip is shorter.
How we pack for the trip
- A carrier they can live in. Bran, vermiculite, wood chips or buckwheat hulls, depending on the species, inside a bottle or a paper sachet.
- Food for the road. Food mites in the carrier, so nobody arrives hungry.
- An ice pack, for humidity. It adds moisture as it melts. It always arrives warm.
- Insulation. Polyfill or bubble wrap to soften temperature swings, rather than force warmth.
- Early-week shipping. Orders leave Monday through Thursday, with tracking by email.
- An eye on the weather. If temperatures on the route look extreme, we ask you whether to hold or ship. The guarantee stays in place either way.
- A different plan for rough routes. Another carrier, or a suggested overnight upgrade.
Questions people ask
What if my package is delayed?
Your mites are packed with food and moisture, so a slow day on the road isn't the end of the world. If tracking stalls or the box doesn't turn up, email info@fgmnnursery.com with your order number. If the carrier lost it, we file the claim with them. You don't have to.
What if something's wrong when it arrives?
Email info@fgmnnursery.com within 72 hours of delivery with your order number and a few words about what you're seeing, or tell Toby in the chat on our site. Our team reads every email, and reports that come in within those 72 hours are handled the same day. If your order is covered by the Live Delivery Guarantee, we'll offer a replacement or store credit.
Why is the ice pack warm?
Because it did its job. It's there to add humidity as it melts, not to keep the box cold, and it always arrives warm.
Will the food mites hurt my plants?
No. They're pantry mites that live on the bran in the carrier, not on living plants, and once they're out on your plants they're on the menu.
Your part
We ship Monday through Thursday, and tracking lands in your inbox the moment your order leaves. When the box arrives, open it right away. Everything inside was alive when we packed it, and it would like to get to work.
Something is eating your plants. Something else is on its way to eat it.
The header photo is retouched from our actual packaging. The illustrations are AI-generated and not to scale.
