Humanity is facing problems such as unsustainable utilization of resources and unstable food security. Timely change of our ways is required. The rise of the insect food and feed industry is coming at the right time offering less environmental impacts in exchange of good quality protein. Insects have the potential to help reach the zero-hunger target, to improve our well-being, to help us be responsible consumers and producers, act in benefit of the climate and the life on land and in water. These are 7 of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals of the United Nations set up to achieve by 2030, underlining the vast potential of the industry. Hermetia illucens known as Black soldier fly is one of the main species yielding substantial success. It is globally approved for feed in poultry, aquaculture and pet food. The interest in H. illucens comes from its high adaptability to different conditions – it originates from the tropical and warm regions, but it is robust enough to be reared under controlled conditions in other parts of the world. Other important advantage is the larva high protein content (50-60%), antibacterial and hypoallergenic properties. In the rise of the industry, companies are competing for the market share, by relying on dynamic business plans and networking. In addition to that, our team focused on the Black soldier fly itself and its genetic capacity. There are multiple unknowns considering the fly physiology and genetics, nevertheless information is being progressively collected starting with studies on suitable rearing conditions and in the last years going to sequencing and transcriptomics data. The Black soldier fly genome has been sequenced, unravelling genomic size larger compared to other Dipteran species (1102Mb) and significant allele variability giving potential for development of marker-assisted selection. Moreover, there is data on the successful genetic improvement of other insect species such as Bombyx mori L. and Apis mellifera that yielded high producing of the species via hybrid development. Our team believes that lessons from the plant and animal breeding fields are vastly important for the development of a novel optimized H. illucens strain. Quantitative genetics tools such as Best linear unbiased predictors and breeding concept such as recurrent selection found in cross-pollinating plants could be adapted and used in Black soldier fly breeding to yield commercially important traits – e.g. high fecundity and high protein content. Having in mind the industry background and all scientific data available, our team is focused to evaluate the genetic improvement potential of H. illucens and face challenges such as the adaptation of already established breeding practices and the lack of information and communication between all shareholders.

In vitro digestion models have been widely applied for farmed animals to predict feed quality and digestibility. Simulation of digestion could have similar applications for the emerging insect farming industry. We propose a static in vitro model simulating the digestive tract of black soldier fly larvae (BSFL). As a missing input parameter for the in vitro model, we determined the residence times for three artificial feeds varying in protein (7, 12 %DM) and carbohydrates (8, 47 %DM) in the three midgut regions (anterior: 15 min, middle: 45 min, posterior: 90 min). Then, we digested four artificial diets and five biowastes in the in vitro model. This approach was broadly able to distinguish worst (cow manure) and best performing rearing substrates (vegetable canteen waste).

The world faces the challenge of producing food for a rapidly growing human population with an increasing demand for animal protein. Currently, livestock consumes large amounts of feed that could be used as food for humans, such as soy, using large areas of farmland and contributing to habitat and biodiversity loss worldwide. Therefore, there is an urgent need to find more efficient ways to produce feed using resources that are not suitable as food. Insects provide excellent opportunities for sustainable and circular feed production, because organic waste streams that are less suitable for livestock feed can instead be used for rearing various species of insects that can then be used for feed production. However, there are still many questions on the development of the insect sector that require investigation. These questions relate to the health and welfare of insects and insect-fed livestock, economic robustness and sustainability of the value chain and finally consumer acceptance of products derived from insect-fed animals. These issues require an integrated interdisciplinary approach. Using black soldier fly and house fly production systems, an interdisciplinary team of academic, public, private and societal partners investigates the opportunities for these species to be reared as feed for poultry. Issues that will be addressed involve how to define and measure insect welfare. They also involve the use of different substrates and their effects on insect health and welfare. Furthermore, the effects of inclusion of housefly and black soldier fly larvae in the diet of poultry will be assessed. Finally, the economic aspects and sustainability will be evaluated. With the results we aim to inform policy makers, regulators and insect producers to develop insect production systems that adhere to standards of animal welfare and health, safety and also contribute to circular economy.

The aim of this study was to evaluate the influence of diet on the growth (mass (mg) and length (mm)) of Zophobas morio larvae and to outline the growth curves (ADG (mg.dia-1) and ADC (mm.day-1)) of the respective diets. The tests were carried out at the ESA-IPVC insectarium (Portugal) under controlled temperature (ºC) and relative humidity (%) conditions.

In the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), caterpillars provide up to 40% of all animal protein consumed and contributes to addressing the problems of food insecurity and poverty in the country. A great proportion of western part population of the DRC consumes caterpillars on a daily basis in their feeding habits. In this region of the country, the edible caterpillar called Mikombidila is also consumed by the inhabitants and are highly appreciated for its excellent taste. Nevertheless, this species is only available in small quantities. This species naturally feeds on a semi-recumbent annual grassy plant with ascending or erect stems up to 60 cm high, called Boerhavia diffusa L., belonging to the Nyctaginaceae family. Research on this caterpillar species is almost non-existent. Very few authors have described its life cycle. After rearing them under laboratory conditions, an identification of the adults has been carried out. This identification indicates that individuals belong to the Noctuidae family and Agaristinae subfamily and represents potentially the Aegocera rectilinea Boisduval 1836 species. The preliminary data on the biology of this species obtained at the end of the observation phase are as follows: it is a multivoltine species with a developmental cycle of ≈30 days (egg incubation ≈ 3 days, larval development ≈ 15 days, pupation ≈ 12 days) and an adult life span of≈ 6 days. Therefore, furthers studies are currently under process to characterize precisely its life cycle parameters and feeding preferences in order to set up a efficient and inexpensive breeding system for a rural and sustainable exploitation of the Mikombidila caterpillar in DRC.

The aim of this study was to evaluate the influence of diet on the growth (mass (mg) and length (mm)) of Tenebrio molitor larvae and outline the growth curves (ADG (mg.day-1) and ADC (mm.day-1)) of the respective diets. The tests were carried out at the ESA-IPVC insectarium (Portugal) under controlled temperature (ºC) and relative humidity (%) conditions. Four diets made from conventional cereals were tested.

A number of saprophagous soil animals are able to effectively decompose crop residues deriving from different cultures and other agricultural wastes. In the result, these animals increase their biomass enriched with microelements, proteins and essential amino acids. A number of soil dwelling species are able to concentrate microelements (e.g. zinc, molybdenum, etc.) and thus be used for their biological and not chemical extraction for further use in fodder supplements.

The increased content of heavy metals in the biomass of Hermetia illucens larvae can be a significant problem when used as part of feed for farm animals. In this work, the content of heavy metals in the larvae biomass reared on different feed substrates was studied. The experiment was conducted on the basis of Entoprotech (Russia) production site. Wheat bran, municipal sludge, vegetable mixture and a mixture of vegetables and mushroom waste were used as feed substrates. The moisture content of feed mixtures before processing was 65-70%. Presented feed substrates were inoculated with larvae at a density of 5 ind/cm2. The processing time was approximately 10 days.