Mass Production of the Black Soldier Fly, Hermetia illucens (L.), (Diptera: Stratiomyidae) Reared on Three Manure Types.

Chelsea D Miranda,Jeffery K Tomberlin,Jonathan A Cammack

doi:10.3390/ani10071243

Abstract

Simple SummaryThe black soldier fly (BSF) has gained a considerable amount of attention globally for its ability to convert organic material into valuable biomass for waste management and food and feed purposes. As the industry of producing BSF expands, connecting research and application is necessary to optimize mass-production facilities. Historically, research on the BSF has been conducted at a benchtop scale. Expanding these results to industrial practices is challenging, as results typically are not scalable. This study investigates the production of BSF fed animal manure (swine, dairy, and poultry) at a larger scale (thousands of larvae fed kg of diet) than what has been previously published (small-scale studies with hundreds of larvae fed g of diet). Recent interest in the mass production of black soldier fly (BSF) larvae has resulted in many studies being generated. However, a majority of the studies are benchtop, or small-scale, experiments. Results generated from such studies may not translate to large-scale/industrial production. The current study was conducted at a conventional large-scale (10,000 larvae/treatment fed seven kg) to determine the impact on selected life-history traits when BSF were fed seven kg of manure (swine, dairy, or poultry) or a control diet (Gainesville diet: 50% wheat bran, 30% alfalfa meal, and 20% corn). Results showed larvae fed dairy manure took one to two days longer to develop to prepupation, with lower survivorship (45%) compared to those fed poultry or swine manure (>70%). Furthermore, the maximum larval weight was reached on day six for those fed swine manure, while other treatments achieved the maximum weight on day seven. However, larvae fed swine manure averaged 150 mg, while those fed the other diets ranged between 175 and 200 mg. Data from this study may be valuable for the industrialization of BSF. Companies using a scale varying from previously published work, including this study, should conduct pilot studies to optimize their system prior to implementation.

Highlights

Insects provide a variety of goods and services for human exploitation [1]
When we examine findings from our own small-scale study [29], which used larvae that were derived from the same colony as the current study, less time was needed for development in the small-scale study for those fed poultry manure (11 d vs. d in the large-scale study), but more time was required in the small-scale study for those fed swine manure (17 d vs. d in the current study), and larvae fed dairy manure required d to develop, regardless of the scale
We find when comparing our study to Miranda et al [29], which used larvae from the same colony with the same rearing conditions, and manure collected from the same facilities as the current study; differences across the manure types for development time, prepupal weight, and survivorship do not follow the same pattern across the scales

Summary

Introduction

Insects provide a variety of goods and services for human exploitation [1]. They may be reared for medicinal purposes, such as wound therapy [2], or to engineer antibodies [3] and vaccines [4]. They may be cultivated for other well-known purposes, such as honey [5], silk [6], and dye production [7], or can be used to control insect pest populations [8]. Recent interest in exploiting insects in this manner has prompted numerous studies [10,11,12,13,14], which helps progress the idea and refine the industry; a majority of the published studies are based on small-scale (benchtop) experiments, which may not truly represent what occurs on a larger industrial scale.

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