Mortality, Development and Nutrient Content of Black Soldier Fly Larvae (Hermetia illucens L.) Maintained on Different Types of Household Organic Waste

Abstract

Black Soldier Fly (BSF) has been well studied for many purposes including its utilization as fish feed and decomposer of organic waste. At the grassroots level, this species is used for alleviating the household waste problem, however, long-term mass rearing becomes challenging due to the high mortality and declining size of larvae, and its nutritional content as an alternative to fish feed becomes a question. The objective of this study is to evaluate the effects of different types of household organic waste on larval development, mortality rate, and nutrient content when larvae enter pre pupa stage. Seven days old larvae were maintained with five different types of fresh household organic waste, vegetable waste, animal waste, and mixed waste with three different combinations between vegetable and animal waste with proportions 1:1, 1:3, and 3:1. There are five units for each treatment with each unit containing 50 larvae. Larval morphometry and volumetry, Waste Reduction Index/WRI, Survival Rate/SR, and proximate analysis were observed. Types of Organic household waste significantly affect the mortality, development, and nutrient content of BSF larvae. BSF larvae maintained with a combination of vegetable waste and animal waste with a ratio of 3:1 have a better quality in terms of mortality, development, and nutrient content.