Survival and Development ofHermetia illucens(Diptera: Stratiomyidae): A Biodegradation Agent of Organic Waste

Abstract

The black soldier fly, Hermetia illucens (L.) (Diptera: Stratiomyidae), was reared on artificial diet (wheat bran and chicken feed) in the laboratory at 28ºC (immature stages) and under a greenhouse set at 28ºC (adults). Data were collected and analyzed based on an age-stage, two-sex life table. The intrinsic rate of increase (r), finite rate of increase (λ), net reproduction rate (R), and mean generation time (T) were 0.0759 (d), 1.0759 (d), 68.225 offspring, and 55.635 d, respectively. The maximum reproductive value of females occurred at 54 d. Only six females out of 21 were able to successfully oviposit. The number of eggs laid per female ranged from 236 to a maximum of 1,088 eggs. We demonstrated that first-instar larvae of H. illucens are more susceptible to perishing when reared under artificial diet than are later instars.

Effects of Feeding Adults ofHermetia illucens(Diptera: Stratiomyidae) on Longevity, Oviposition, and Egg Hatchability: Insights Into Optimizing Egg Production

“…Cardboards containing approximately two egg masses of newly laid eggs (<6 h) were kept in grip seal plastic bags (85 × 60 mm) and incubated at 28°C, 80% RH. Upon hatching, larvae were transferred to plastic boxes (43 × 35 × 11 cm) and reared with artificial diet composed of three parts wheat bran per one part of chicken feed (>20% protein) adding 250-ml water per 100 g dry weight (Samayoa et al 2016). The containers were covered with mesh nets to avoid larvae escaping and water and diet were added until first prepupae appeared.…”

“…In total five replicates containing 100 newly emerged (<12 h) adults (50 females and 50 males) per treatment were marked according to their sex using 2-mm 2 tags glued to the thorax with nail polish to facilitate recording daily mortality and reproductive females (Samayoa et al 2016). Adults were then released in a wire-framed polyester mosquito net tent per treatment (Baohe E-Commerce Co., Ltd., New Taipei City, Taiwan).…”

“…The third treatment was milk: composed of 3:1:1 by weight combination of sugar (Yi-Feng Food Co., Ltd., New Taipei, Taiwan), milk powder (Fonterra Brands, Pte., Ltd., Taiwan Branch), and bacteriological peptone (USB Corporation, Cleveland, OH), respectively. The diet was adapted from Pastor et al (2011) and Samayoa et al (2016). The peptone component was included based on Turner and Hair (1967).…”

“…Egg hatchability was calculated as the number of successfully hatched eggs (fertilized) divided by the estimated number of eggs, with single egg weight of 0.02557 mg as conversion factor, similar to Booth and Sheppard (1984). Individual egg weight was calculated by counting eggs of newly (<8 h) laid egg masses ( n = 20) ranging 1–30 mg under binocular microscope in a 1:1 mix of glycerin and water to facilitate the counting (Samayoa et al 2016).…”

Recovery of residual nutrients from agri‐food byproducts using a combination of solid‐state fermentation and insect rearing

“…The life cycle of black soldier fly ( Hermetia illucens ; BSF) includes larval and pupal stages before the exclude into adult flies (Tomberlin & Sheppard, ; Clariza Samayoa et al ., ). After the larval stage, which is typically about 12–15 days long, they enter a pupal stage.…”