Journal of Applied Entomology (2019) 143, 875-881

Anton Gligorescu, Søren Toft, Henrik Hauggaard-Nielsen, Jørgen A. Axelsen and Søren Achim Nielsen (2019)
Development, growth and metabolic rate of Hermetia illucens larvae
Journal of Applied Entomology 143 (8), 875-881
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.
(The abstract is excluded from the Creative Commons licence and has been copied with permission by the publisher.)
Link to article at publishers website
Database assignments for author(s): Søren Toft, Søren Achim Nielsen

Research topic(s) for pests/diseases/weeds:
biocontrol - natural enemies
Research topic(s) for beneficials or antagonists:
general biology - morphology - evolution

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Pest and/or beneficial records:

Beneficial	Pest/Disease/Weed	Crop/Product	Country	Quarant.
Hermetia illucens (competitor)