Bacterial communities in Nilaparvata lugens (Stål) (Hemiptera: Delphacidae) showed significant variation among the developmental stages with functional diversity

<i>Nilaparvata lugens</i>, a major rice pest, hosts an essential microbiome, yet its dynamic changes across developmental stages remain poorly understood. This study analyzed the bacterial community across developmental stages using V3-V4 amplicon sequences of 16S rRNA gene. The microbiome was classified into 20 phyla, 38 classes, 77 orders, 155 families, and 273 genera, with Proteobacteria, Firmicutes, and Bacteroidetes dominating phyla. Families Morganellaceae, Enterobacteriaceae, and Moraxellaceae were prevalent across all stages, while Anaplamataceae was dominant in all the developmental stages except males. Key genera included <i>Arsenophonous</i> (5 %), <i>Bacillus</i> (5 %), and <i>Acinetobacter</i> (3 %), with <i>Wolbachia</i> (11 %) abundant in all developmental stages except in males. The shared operational taxonomic units (OTUs) between the developmental stages of <i>N. lugens</i> were only 40 OTUs, and higher unique OTUs were found in the late instar stage (89 OTUs), and the lowest unique OTUs were found at the male stage (64 OTUs). Functional prediction indicated roles in carbohydrate, amino acid, and energy metabolism, as well as membrane transport, signaling, DNA replication and repair. These findings highlight stage-specific microbiome variations, laying the foundation for microbiome-based pest management techniques.