Age-stage, two-sex life table analysis of black soldier fly, Hermetia illucens (Diptera: Stratiomyidae), reared on different organic wastes

Abstract

Hermetia illucens or black soldier fly (BSF) is an economically important species. BSF larvae are efficient decomposers of various organic wastes and can be integrated into animal feed formulations. An age‐stage, two‐sex life table was applied in this study to evaluate the influence of four different organic wastes, namely, food waste, coconut endosperm, palm kernel expeller (PKE), and chicken manure. The development period, survival, fecundity of BSF adult longevity, adult pre‐oviposition period (APOP), and total pre‐oviposition period (TPOP) were observed to estimate the performance of BSF on different organic wastes. This study was conducted under laboratory conditions at 28 ± 2 °C and 70 ± 10 % relative humidity with a 15-hour light:9-hour dark photoperiod. Raw BSF data were analyzed using the TWOSEX MS‐Chart computer program. Life table parameters showed that food waste and PKE treatments were superior diet choices for BSF larvae compared to chicken manure and coconut waste treatments, with PKE treatment showing the ideal result out of all treatments. The highest net reproductive rate (R0 = 78.5567 ± 14.33) and highest fecundity (467.57 ± 27.28) of BSF occurred in the PKE treatment. Treatment significantly affected the fecundity, intrinsic rate of increase (r), and finite rate of increase (λ).