Abstract
The larvae of Hermetia illucens are known to successfully bio‐convert a vast range of organic substrates into high protein and fat biomass, but little is known about the larval instars. During this research, larval head capsules and biomass growth were measured daily and the specific metabolic rate of larger instars were considered. The head capsule measurements revealed that H. illucens pass through 6 actively feeding larval stadia before entering the last nonfeeding but migrating 7th stadium. Larval growth follows a sigmoid curve with slowly accelerating growth in the earlier stadia and decelerating growth in the latest stadia. In contrast, development was fast until reaching stadium 6 and then slowed down. Accordingly, the specific metabolic rate was high in instars 3, 4 and 5 and reduced in instars 6 and 7.
| Translated title of the contribution | Development, growth and metabolic rate of Hermetia illucens larvae |
|---|---|
| Original language | English |
| Article number | 143 |
| Journal | Journal of Applied Entomology |
| Volume | 143 |
| Issue number | 8 |
| Pages (from-to) | 875-881 |
| Number of pages | 7 |
| ISSN | 0931-2048 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 11 May 2019 |
Bibliographical note
Important note from the Publisher regarding the attached version of the article: "This is the peer reviewed version of the following article: Gligorescu, A, Toft, S, Hauggaard‐Nielsen, H, Axelsen, JA, Nielsen, SA. Development, growth and metabolic rate of Hermetia illucens larvae. J Appl Entomol. 2019; 143: 875– 881. https://doi.org/10.1111/jen.12653, which has been published in final form at https://doi.org/10.1111/jen.12653. This article may be used for non-commercial purposes in accordance with Wiley Terms and Conditions for Use of Self-Archived Versions."Keywords
- black soldier fly
- head capsule measurement
- larval morphology
- microcalorimetry
- wanderlarve
- weight measurement