Abstract
The intra-puparial development of the black soldier-fly, Hermetia illucens (L.) (Diptera: Stratiomyidae), was studied based on 125 pupae under controlled conditions in laboratory. The 6 th instar larvae were reared until they stopped feeding, and the prepupae were separated according to the reduction in larval length and degree of pigmentation and sclerotization of the cuticle. The pupal stage lasted eight days (192 hours). The process of pupation (larva/pupa apolysis) occurred in the first six hours, extroversion of the head and thoracic appendages took place between the ninth and 21 st hours, and the pharate appeared 21 hours after completing pupation. After pupariation, four morphological phases of intra-puparial development were observed and described.
Highlights
The Hermetiinae soldier-flies represent a relatively homogeneous group of Stratiomyidae consisting of five genera, Chaetohermetia (2 spp., neotropical); Chaetosargus (4 spp., neotropical); Hermetia (76 spp., cosmopolitan), Nothohermetia (1 sp., Australia), and Patagiomyia (1 sp., neotropical)
In this paper we describe some events in H. illucens development, including the chronology and morphological changes observed during intrapuparial development, under controlled laboratory conditions
Pupariation The larvae of H. illucens remained in the vermiculite substrate between two and 15 days and buried in the substrate in scotophase, when there was a reduction in their mobility
Summary
The Hermetiinae soldier-flies represent a relatively homogeneous group of Stratiomyidae consisting of five genera, Chaetohermetia (2 spp., neotropical); Chaetosargus (4 spp., neotropical); Hermetia (76 spp., cosmopolitan), Nothohermetia (1 sp., Australia), and Patagiomyia (1 sp., neotropical). The genus Hermetia Latreille has 76 species, 39 of them occurring in the Neotropical region, 20 with distribution including Brazil. Four species have known larvae: Hermetia albitarsis (Brazil), H. aurata (Mexico), H. concinna (Mexico), and H. illucens (cosmopolitan) (McFadden 1967; Woodley 2001). Records of the larvae and pupae of H. illucens occurring in human carcasses indicate that this species is important in studies of forensic entomology, and that its development can be used to estimate post-mortem interval (Catts and Haskell 1990; Lord et al 1994; Turchetto et al 2001; Tomberlim et al 2004; Pujol-Luz et al 2008)
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