Black Soldier Fly- Crown Jewel of Insects as Feed Industry or Pest?

2/10/2020

Have you ever wondered- what was the black soldier fly known for before it was being mass produced as a feed? Well, here is an answer. Arnold van Huis and I put together a summary of the published history for this species prior to its recognition in the 1990s as a beneficial. Hard to believe, but the black soldier fly was recognized as a pest before then. The major take-home message is- be careful with your production of the black soldier fly. I hope you enjoy the read!!

Tomberlin, J. K., and A. v. Huis. 2020. Black soldier fly from pest to ‘crown jewel’ of the insects as feed industry: an historical perspective. Journal of Insects as Food and Feed 6: 1-4.

Author

Jeffery K. Tomberlin, PhD, recovering from 2019 (what a year!)
Director, EVO Conversion Systems, LLC
Twitter: @FliesFacility

2 Comments

Paul Olivier link

2/10/2020 12:53:43 pm

I cannot open this file.

Leo

4/26/2020 06:52:02 am

Dear Jeff, thank you for this interesting review and perspective. What I'm missing (or overlooking?) in the review is what part of the behaviour or observation of BSF was actually associated with Pest-species in these respective early papers? What actually made the BSF a pest in those articles (and based on what definition of 'pest')?