EXPLORING THE CAPABILITY OF Hermetia illucens (Linnaeus, 1758) (Diptera: Stratiomyidae) TO RECYCLE ORGANIC WASTE IN ALGERIA

Abstract

This study is being conducted to find out how to treat waste food by Hermetia illucens (L.). The impact of several diets on the life cycleand size of different development stages of this species was studied. H. illucens lays its eggs in heaps in nesting boxes, with an egg incubation period of 03 ± 0.9 days and a larval phase of 24.21 ± 4.10 days.The prepupa stage lasts approximately 03 days, and the transformation of larvae into pupae begins on the 16th day and lasts until the 41st day after the egg incubation. The sex ratio is 49,34 ±7.62% for females and 50.41± 7.74% for males.H. illucens larvae have an average weight of 0.13 ± 0.03 g, a length of 1.66 ± 0.14 cm, and a width of 0.46 ± 0.05 cm. Pre-pupa weigh 0.17 ± 0.06 g, pupa measures 02.05 ± 0.13 cm in length and 0.52± 0.04 cm in width, and adult weighs 0.03 ± 0.01 g. A hundred eggs weigh 0.0085 g, and the shell of the egg represents 63.42% of the egg.The black soldier fly larva consumes 0.36 to 0.47 g of food during its development, with an average value of food utilization of 75.57 ± 8.53%. At the end of the larval phase, the larvae reached a maximum size of 1.8 cm. The lipids and proteins contained in cheese and quail eggs improved the weight of larvae, resulting in a gain of 0.04 g/larva.H. illucens was bred on mud from a wastewater treatment unit with an average weight of 0.25 g, length of 2.12 cm, and width of 0.58 cm. The findings of this study indicate that food waste in Algeria can be utilized by black soldier fly larvae, resulting in a shorter development period and increased larval biomass.