Black soldier fly (BSF) is a generalist species, its larvae can survive on different kind of decaying organic matter. This research wanted to investigate the impact of high fibre diet (stover corn: SC) on the development of BSF larvae and prepupae. Corn production is estimated around the world in 1,041 billion metric tonnes and only in China around 224.9 million metric tonnes. The availability of SC could be potentially relevant. A standard crop diet (Gainesville diet) was used as control (C). Three diets were formulated with a substitution of 25% (SC25), 50% (SC50) and 100% (SC100) of control diet with SC. Four replicates per treatment were performed and the replicates were fed daily with 40 g on a wet basis (70% moisture) in a climatic chamber with 28 °C T and 70% RH. Preliminary results showed that SC100 negatively impacted larval growth performance (a weight of 0.053 g after 42 days of trial) and were therefore excluded from the statistical analysis. Final length of larvae did not show differences between treatments and ranged between 16.4 mm (SC50) and 18.2 mm (C). Final weight of larvae showed differences between C and SC50 treatment: 0.128 g (SC50) and 0.170 g (C), respectively. Final prepupae weight of SC50 showed differences with C and SC25: 0.089 g (SC50) and 0.131 g (C), respectively. Time to reach prepupae of SC50 (20.8 days) was statistically different from C and SC25 (18.2 and 17.5 days, respectively). A diet completely composed by SC seems not suitable for the rearing of BSF larvae while a 25% of inclusion could be used. From an economic point of view, SC could be interesting in the view of a circular economy. Nevertheless, further investigations are needed to fully evaluate the effects of this low value substrate on larvae composition.
Preliminary result of high fibre material impact on growth performance of black soldier fly larvae (Hermetia illucens)
F Gai;
2018
Abstract
Black soldier fly (BSF) is a generalist species, its larvae can survive on different kind of decaying organic matter. This research wanted to investigate the impact of high fibre diet (stover corn: SC) on the development of BSF larvae and prepupae. Corn production is estimated around the world in 1,041 billion metric tonnes and only in China around 224.9 million metric tonnes. The availability of SC could be potentially relevant. A standard crop diet (Gainesville diet) was used as control (C). Three diets were formulated with a substitution of 25% (SC25), 50% (SC50) and 100% (SC100) of control diet with SC. Four replicates per treatment were performed and the replicates were fed daily with 40 g on a wet basis (70% moisture) in a climatic chamber with 28 °C T and 70% RH. Preliminary results showed that SC100 negatively impacted larval growth performance (a weight of 0.053 g after 42 days of trial) and were therefore excluded from the statistical analysis. Final length of larvae did not show differences between treatments and ranged between 16.4 mm (SC50) and 18.2 mm (C). Final weight of larvae showed differences between C and SC50 treatment: 0.128 g (SC50) and 0.170 g (C), respectively. Final prepupae weight of SC50 showed differences with C and SC25: 0.089 g (SC50) and 0.131 g (C), respectively. Time to reach prepupae of SC50 (20.8 days) was statistically different from C and SC25 (18.2 and 17.5 days, respectively). A diet completely composed by SC seems not suitable for the rearing of BSF larvae while a 25% of inclusion could be used. From an economic point of view, SC could be interesting in the view of a circular economy. Nevertheless, further investigations are needed to fully evaluate the effects of this low value substrate on larvae composition.I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
