A Comparative Study of Effects of Biodegradable and Non-biodegradable Microplastics on the Growth and Development of Black Soldier Fly Larvae (Hermetia illucens).

Purpose: This study aimed to investigate the digestion process of biodegradable and non-biodegradable microplastics (MPs) within black soldier fly larvae (BSFL) and assess their impact on larval growth and development. The goal was to understand the fate of MPs within BSFL, considering their potential for waste conversion polluted with MPs. Methods: BSFL were exposed to two types of MPs, and their growth, development, potential accumulation and excretion of MPs were monitored. Results: The findings revealed that the MPs accumulated solely in the larval gut and had no adverse effects on the growth and development of BSFL. Larvae efficiently excreted MPs before reaching the pupation stage. Conclusion: This research emphasizes the potential of BSFL as a bioconversion agent for organic waste, even in the presence of MPs. The effective excretion of MPs by BSFL before pupation suggests their ability to mitigate potential harm caused by MP accumulation. The fact that BSFL may excrete MPs before pupation would contribute to their safe use as animal feedstock. A careful evaluation of the effects of using BSFL reared on contaminated substrates especially containing visually non-detectable residuals like nanoplastics, chemicals or toxic metals and further examination of the broader implications for waste management and sustainable livestock farming remains important. Graphical Abstract: Experimental design outlining the workflow for the analyses used to investigate the effect of two types of microplastics, polyamide (PA), and polylactic acid (PLA), on growth and development of black soldier fly larvae.

Impact of Processed Food (Canteen and Oil Wastes) on the Development of Black Soldier Fly (Hermetia illucens) Larvae and Their Gut Microbiome Functions.

Canteens represent an essential food supply hub for educational institutions, companies, and business parks. Many people in these locations rely on a guaranteed service with consistent quality. It is an ongoing challenge to satisfy the demand for sufficient serving numbers, portion sizes, and menu variations to cover food intolerances and different palates of customers. However, overestimating this demand or fluctuating quality of dishes leads to an inevitable loss of unconsumed food due to leftovers. In this study, the food waste fraction of canteen leftovers was identified as an optimal diet for black soldier fly (Hermetia illucens) larvae based on 50% higher consumption and 15% higher waste reduction indices compared with control chicken feed diet. Although the digestibility of food waste was nearly twice as high, the conversion efficiency of ingested and digested chicken feed remains unparalleled (17.9 ± 0.6 and 37.5 ± 0.9 in CFD and 7.9 ± 0.9 and 9.6 ± 1.0 in FWD, respectively). The oil separator waste fraction, however, inhibited biomass gain by at least 85% and ultimately led to a larval mortality of up to 96%. In addition to monitoring larval development, we characterized physicochemical properties of pre- and post-process food waste substrates. High-throughput amplicon sequencing identified Firmicutes, Proteobacteria, and Bacteroidota as the most abundant phyla, and Morganella, Acinetobacter, and certain Lactobacillales species were identified as indicator species. By using metagenome imputation, we additionally gained insights into the functional spectrum of gut microbial communities. We anticipate that the results will contribute to the development of decentralized waste-management sites that make use of larvae to process food waste as it has become common practice for biogas plants.

The Core Gut Microbiome of Black Soldier Fly (Hermetia illucens) Larvae Raised on Low-Bioburden Diets.

An organism's gut microbiome handles most of the metabolic processes associated with food intake and digestion but can also strongly affect health and behavior. A stable microbial core community in the gut provides general metabolic competences for substrate degradation and is robust against extrinsic disturbances like changing diets or pathogens. Black Soldier Fly larvae (BSFL; Hermetia illucens) are well known for their ability to efficiently degrade a wide spectrum of organic materials. The ingested substrates build up the high fat and protein content in their bodies that make the larvae interesting for the animal feedstuff industry. In this study, we subjected BSFL to three distinct types of diets carrying a low bioburden and assessed the diets' impact on larval development and on the composition of the bacterial and archaeal gut community. No significant impact on the gut microbiome across treatments pointed us to the presence of a predominant core community backed by a diverse spectrum of low-abundance taxa. Actinomyces spp., Dysgonomonas spp., and Enterococcus spp. as main members of this community provide various functional and metabolic skills that could be crucial for the thriving of BSFL in various environments. This indicates that the type of diet could play a lesser role in guts of BSFL than previously assumed and that instead a stable autochthonous collection of bacteria provides the tools for degrading of a broad range of substrates. Characterizing the interplay between the core gut microbiome and BSFL helps to understand the involved degradation processes and could contribute to further improving large-scale BSFL rearing.

Correction: Influence of three artificial light sources on oviposition and half-life of the Black Soldier Fly, Hermetia illucens (Diptera: Stratiomyidae): Improving small-scale indoor rearing.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0197896.].

Influence of three artificial light sources on oviposition and half-life of the Black Soldier Fly, Hermetia illucens (Diptera: Stratiomyidae): Improving small-scale indoor rearing.

Hermetia illucens (L.), the Black Soldier Fly, has received increased scientific attention for its potential in circular waste management where larvae can serve as feedstuff for livestock and for biodiesel production. The flies occur naturally in (sub)-tropical and warm-temperate climates, and their mating depends on space and sunlight. Small-scale indoor rearing of Black Soldier Flies has been challenging because they react sensitive to artificial light sources and cage sizes, but recent studies have shown that small-scale rearing under artificial light is feasible. Here, we test the influence of three artificial light sources (light-emitting diodes, fluorescent lamps, and halogen lamps) on small-scale indoor rearing. Three experiments were conducted to compare oviposition traits (pre-oviposition period, total oviposition-period, and egg mass per female) and half-life among the three light sources. Oviposition did not differ among the three light sources, but male and female half-life did. Based on the performance of the light-emitting diodes and their outstanding energy efficiency, we recommend this light source for small-scale indoor rearing of Black Soldier Flies.

Life-history traits and physiological limits of the alpine fly Drosophila nigrosparsa (Diptera: Drosophilidae): A comparative study.

Interspecific variation in life-history traits and physiological limits can be linked to the environmental conditions species experience, including climatic conditions. As alpine environments are particularly vulnerable under climate change, we focus on the montane-alpine fly Drosophila nigrosparsa. Here, we characterized some of its life-history traits and physiological limits and compared these with those of other drosophilids, namely Drosophila hydei, Drosophila melanogaster, and Drosophila obscura. We assayed oviposition rate, longevity, productivity, development time, larval competitiveness, starvation resistance, and heat and cold tolerance. Compared with the other species assayed, D. nigrosparsa is less fecund, relatively long-living, starvation susceptible, cold adapted, and surprisingly well heat adapted. These life-history characteristics provide insights into invertebrate adaptations to alpine conditions which may evolve under ongoing climate change.

Identifying the minimum number of microsatellite loci needed to assess population genetic structure: A case study in fly culturing.

Small, isolated populations are constantly threatened by loss of genetic diversity due to drift. Such situations are found, for instance, in laboratory culturing. In guarding against diversity loss, monitoring of potential changes in population structure is paramount; this monitoring is most often achieved using microsatellite markers, which can be costly in terms of time and money when many loci are scored in large numbers of individuals. Here, we present a case study reducing the number of microsatellites to the minimum necessary to correctly detect the population structure of two Drosophila nigrosparsa populations. The number of loci was gradually reduced from 11 to 1, using the Allelic Richness (AR) and Private Allelic Richness (PAR) as criteria for locus removal. The effect of each reduction step was evaluated by the number of genetic clusters detectable from the data and by the allocation of individuals to the clusters; in the latter, excluding ambiguous individuals was tested to reduce the rate of incorrect assignments. We demonstrate that more than 95% of the individuals can still be correctly assigned when using eight loci and that the major population structure is still visible when using two highly polymorphic loci. The differences between sorting the loci by AR and PAR were negligible. The method presented here will most efficiently reduce genotyping costs when small sets of loci ("core sets") for long-time use in large-scale population screenings are compiled.

Permanent genetic resources added to molecular ecology resources database 1 April 2013-31 May 2013.

This article documents the addition of 234 microsatellite marker loci to the Molecular Ecology Resources Database. Loci were developed for the following species: Acipenser sinensis, Aleochara bilineata, Aleochara bipustulata, Barbus meridionalis, Colossoma macropomum, Delia radicum, Drosophila nigrosparsa, Fontainea picrosperma, Helianthemum cinereum, Liomys pictus, Megabalanus azoricus, Pelteobagrus vachelli, Pleuragramma antarcticum, Podarcis hispanica type 1A, Sardinella brasiliensis and Sclerotinia homoeocarpa. These loci were cross-tested on the following species: Acipenser dabryanus, Barbus balcanicus, Barbus barbus, Barbus cyclolepis, Drosophila hydei, Drosophila melanogaster, Drosophila obscura, Drosophila subobscura, Fontainea australis, Fontainea fugax, Fontainea oraria, Fontainea rostrata, Fontainea venosa, Podarcis bocagei, Podarcis carbonelli, Podarcis liolepis, Podarcis muralis and Podarcis vaucheri.