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Category Archives: Understanding black soldier flies

Black soldier fly composting in the frigid north

Actually, this post applies to any region that has seasonal temperatures below that which support BSF mating. This encompasses the entire continental U.S. except for a few extreme southern areas. Black soldier flies (Hermetia illucens) are common in tropical and subtropical regions, but their range extends into many northern states of the continental U.S. You [...]

Posted 16 August 2008 † Jerry § Raising black soldier fly larvae ‡ Comments (48) ° Tagged: , ,

Black Soldier Fly cultivation – “nuts and bolts”

The purpose of this post is to feature a blog that is valuable to anyone researching black soldier flies (Hermetia illucens). It’s called BioSystems Design and below is an excerpt from their “about” page. About BioSystems Design. BioSystems Design LLC. is dedicated to the transformation of what was previously considered waste into valuable products.  Our institutional [...]

Posted 06 August 2008 † Jerry § ‡ Comments (2) ° Tagged:

Take the black soldier fly challenge

I believe black soldier fly larvae (Hermetia illucens) represent the most logical method for dealing with the constant stream of putrescent waste that humans create. Putrescent waste is anything that gets putrid (rots) and is mostly wasted food.  BSF aren’t magic but it’s hard to imagine a much more efficient solution to a growing problem. [...]

Posted 29 July 2008 † Jerry § Utilizing black soldier fly larvae ‡ Comments (12) ° Tagged:

The cutest black soldier fly researcher EVER!

(Sorry Dr. Sheppard, Dr. Olivier and Dr. Tomberlin…) Alana is hands down the cutest of all black soldier fly researchers. Apparently her folks forgot to tell her that BSF larvae are yucky! Good parents. Anyone concerned about Alana handling BSF larvae may want to read this which references scientific studies showing that black soldier flies [...]

Posted 08 July 2008 † Jerry § ‡ Comments (4) ° Tagged:

black soldier fly emerging from it’s pupa

I think I spent over six hours shooting video to capture this five second long event. I’m not really sure what value it has other than general coolness. After exiting the pupa it ran to the outside of the bowl and spent about 10 minutes inflating it’s wings. Soon I hope to record that process [...]

Posted 06 July 2008 † Jerry § ‡ Comments (29) ° Tagged: