The European pet food market is the second largest in the world with an estimated value of US$21.5 billion. Approximately 8.59 million reptile and amphibian pets are kept across Europe and a thriving and well established industry rears the live feeder insects for insectivorous species. Two popular groups of feeder insects are locusts and crickets, and substantial quantities of organic waste are generated in their production consisting of frass, exuviae and uneaten food. Here we investigated the use of a saprophagous fly species, Hermetia illucens (Diptera: Stratiomyidae), the black soldier fly (BSF), as a bioaccumulator to recapture the nutrients in this waste with potential applications in the pet food, animal feed, or biofuel industries. BSF larvae were reared on four experimental diets consisting of the waste from either cricket farming, or locust farming. These were used either unmodified or finely chopped, and the Gainsville diet was used as a control giving five conditions. Trial substrates were given to young handling larvae ad libitum and maintained in a climate chamber. The suitability of these diets for rearing BSF was demonstrated by a low mortality rate, not significantly affected by diet, and the successful emergence of adults from all conditions. BSF larvae reared on cricket waste reached a significantly higher weight than those reared on the locust and control diets. Diet did not significantly affect time taken to reach the prepupal stage, except in chopped locust condition which took more days. We conclude that the waste from farming locusts and crickets represents a suitable substrate for rearing H. illucens, potentially establish a circular nutrient economy in the rearing of insects for the live pet food market.
Using Hermetia illucena to bioconvert the waste from insect farming / C. Jucker, C.D. Moore, M. Palamara Mesiano, M.G. Leonardi, D. Lupi, S. Savoldelli. ((Intervento presentato al 11. convegno European Congress of Entomology tenutosi a Napoli nel 2018.
Using Hermetia illucena to bioconvert the waste from insect farming
C. Jucker
Primo
;M. Palamara Mesiano;M.G. Leonardi;D. LupiPenultimo
;S. SavoldelliUltimo
2018
Abstract
The European pet food market is the second largest in the world with an estimated value of US$21.5 billion. Approximately 8.59 million reptile and amphibian pets are kept across Europe and a thriving and well established industry rears the live feeder insects for insectivorous species. Two popular groups of feeder insects are locusts and crickets, and substantial quantities of organic waste are generated in their production consisting of frass, exuviae and uneaten food. Here we investigated the use of a saprophagous fly species, Hermetia illucens (Diptera: Stratiomyidae), the black soldier fly (BSF), as a bioaccumulator to recapture the nutrients in this waste with potential applications in the pet food, animal feed, or biofuel industries. BSF larvae were reared on four experimental diets consisting of the waste from either cricket farming, or locust farming. These were used either unmodified or finely chopped, and the Gainsville diet was used as a control giving five conditions. Trial substrates were given to young handling larvae ad libitum and maintained in a climate chamber. The suitability of these diets for rearing BSF was demonstrated by a low mortality rate, not significantly affected by diet, and the successful emergence of adults from all conditions. BSF larvae reared on cricket waste reached a significantly higher weight than those reared on the locust and control diets. Diet did not significantly affect time taken to reach the prepupal stage, except in chopped locust condition which took more days. We conclude that the waste from farming locusts and crickets represents a suitable substrate for rearing H. illucens, potentially establish a circular nutrient economy in the rearing of insects for the live pet food market.File | Dimensione | Formato | |
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