CAPALES AGRICULTURAL FARM

Scientific Classification

Kingdom: Animalia

Phylum: Arthropoda (segmented body and

jointed appendages)

Class: Insecta (largest group within the

arthropod phylum. 3 body part HEAD, THORAX
and ABDOMEN)

Order: Diptera (large order of inscect,

comprises the two wingned, it includes many
biting form)
But there is mystery behind this creature BSF?
Just listen

Family: Stratiomyidae (a diverse family of

orthorrhaphous brachycera. They exihibit great
morphological variation, the family is distinct from Did you
other flies due to their unique wing venation and
larval habits)
Flies family of
Stratiomyida know me?
e
Subfamily: Hermentiinae
 History of Black Soldier Fly

The black soldier fly (Hermelia Illucens (Linnaeus) ) is synanthoropic

polysaprophagons fly native to Neotropics, but now found in every zoogeographic
region following decades of spread throughout the warmer parts of the world.
The Black Soldier Fly (BSF) have been first brought to Europe around 500 years ago,
the first verifiable palaearctic record of the species is from southern Europe (malta) in
1926.
 Do you believe that black soldier fly is the future food and feed???

 If you are planning to stablish your own poultry business. So black soldier fly is what
you need!
 If you have self sufficient fish pond. So black soldier fly is what you need!
 If you practice backyard gardening and don’t have enough compost to use. So black
soldier fly is what you need!
 If you planning to formulate your own feed for your livestock. So black soldier fly is
what you need!
 If you irritated where to put your kitchen waste to place in. so black soldier fly is what
you need!
 If you have too many unused pail, tumbler or container. So black soldier fly is what
you need!
 If you concern to our environment. So start black soldier fly farming!

This is I guarantee you Black Soldier Fly will fed your pocket!
 Economic Value of Black Soldier Fly

 Insects have a high level of protein and their production has a small footprint.
 Black Soldier Fly (BSF) receive significant attention mainly due to its ability to feed on
different substrate including organic waste streams.
 The ability of BSF to convert organic waste into high-quality nutrients has rapidly opened.
 Open commercial opportunities with the development of products such as protein meal,
which is cheaper alternative protein source as compared to fishmeal or soybean meal for
pig, poultry, and fish feeds.
BSF market by BSF market by BSF market
product type applicatin
Protein meal Animal feed All over the world
Biofertilizer frass Agriculture All over the world

Whole dried larvae Pet food All over the world

Larvae oil Others All over the world

Chitin/Chitosan Others All over the world

Live larvae Others All over the world

 Biology of Black Soldier Fly
Their cephalic capsule is separate from their body; their strong mouth parts serve eating purposes
but also to the locomotion. The larval body comprises 11 segments covered by hair and bristles. Its
color is beige or light brown until pupation, thereafter it turns to dark brown.
larvae can reach up to 20 mm in length and about 6mm in width.

Pupae
- stage
Pre ae
p
pu ge
sta

Adult

Larvae BSF
stage egg
Adults measures from 13 to 20mm in length they possess two long antennae, a single pair of well
developed wigs, When at rest wings are folded up to one another)
As hind wings are tiny, and three pair of legs with a
white/yellow tarsus.
Males are smaller than females and an anatomic
difference on the last abdominal segment enables
to discriminate between genders. Females posses a
rectangular tubular oviduct whereas males exhibit
an aedeagus (male insect reproductive organ) and a
pair of hooks which enable him to grasp the female
genitial organ during copulation.
 Life cycle of BSF
EAT
SLEEP
REPEAT
EAT
SLEEP
DRINK
LAID/MATE
DIED
The BSF life cycle varies between populations ( wild or domesticated )and environment
( temperature, humidity, light intensity, quality and quantity of available food ). The females
Lay between 320 and 1000 eggs on a dry substrate in a humid environment ( to limit the
water losses of their eggs ) using their ovipositor.

39
productiv
e days
Easy!
 Eggs are laid into tight  BSF females lay their eggs  Eggs have an ovoid
rows close to those of other shape
 Interstice to hide from individuals  About 1mm long
predation and close to a  And die soon after  Change color from
potential food source oviposition beige to yellow during
the incubation period
 4 days
 Larvae habit
 As soon as larvae hatched ( 0.66mm long ) they use surrounding organic matter as food source.
 Duration of larval stage 4 weeks to 5 months depending on food availability.
 Temperature also a key parameter being in the 20-30˚C ( asia is best for bsf)
 Males emerged earlier than females

How long they

mate?
Mating takes
place about 2
days after
emergence.

A two weeks old BSF

larvae
 Physiology and Feeding

BSF adults do not feed/eat as they largely live on the energy reserves built during the
larval development but these supplies can be supplemented by nectar. However, the
environmental factor that intimately governs their life expectancy is the access to water.
Adults having access to water may live up to 14 days, whereas those deprived of water
hardly survive more than 8 days.

BSF larvae are voracious until 21-24 days after hatching. The substrate in which they live
is saturated with water, so dehydration is reduce and the access to food is
straightforward. However, if the substrate becomes excessively humid, larvae tend to go
away. Their feeding activity reduces the volume of organic matter by 40 to 80% and
strongly impact the substrate’s content in nitrogen and phosphorus. BSF larvae are not
cannibalistic.
 Digestion- Enzymatic and Bacterial System

BSF larvae are polyphagous. This polyphsgia, which enable them to make the most of many food
sources, largely owes to their powerful mouthparts and efficient enzymatic activity of their digestive
system ( gut and salivary glands). It is especially in the intestine that enzyme such as amylases,
proteases and lipases are most active.

Besides BSF larvae host an intestinal flora that takes an active part in the digestation of food.
 Behaviour
Usually, adults BSF are found near places where manure, decaying food or dead animals are
abundant.
Smells from decaying organic matter attract females that are ready to lay eggs, whereas males
prefer sunny places when vegetation prevails. Also males are strongly territorial in that they
defend their area against other males until mature females in search of mate pass nearby.

NOTE: I did not recommend to

fed your BSF larvae of dead
animals because it attracts bad
pathogens, bacteria and transform
the diseases, into viruses and be
transmitted to human and other
animals.
Unless you cooked it 
 Copulation/Mating

The life of BSF imago being very

short, mating takes place no more
than 2-3 days after emergence.
Mating is exclusively diurnal and
comprises several steps; first the
male grasp a female flying over its
resting area with its legs and
hooks the aedeagus, then the
male and female will perform a
courtship flight which can lead
them up to 1.5m above ground
level where copulation starts.
 BSF ADULTH, LARVAE AND EGG PRODUCTION

100 adult BSF X 900 eggs each BSF fly = 90,000 larvae

90,000 bsf larvae X 900 eggs each BSF fly= 81,000,000 larvae in just a month

In order to rich this production you will need two cheap facilities

1. What is Insectarium?
2. What is Larvarium?
The larvarium is devoted to the grow-out of larvae and to the production of pupae, a part of which
being transferred into a puparium inside the insectarium to ensure the periodic renewal of
broodstock.

The insectarium is dedicated to reproduction and collection of eggs, which are transferred to
larvarium for a new cycle of production of larvae and production of pupae.

NOTE: it is indeed to indispensable that parents be separated

from the larvarium, otherwise adulth females would be
strongly attracted by the substrates and would lay their eggs
anarchically, thereby complicating the egg collection must be
LARVARIUM

The larvarium building occupies a surface area of 165 (15.6 x 10.6) with an average height of 2.4
m. pillars reinforced concrete ( 30 x30 x 100 cm ) poured into the ground, hold metal profile with a
rectangular ( 10 x 5 cm ) section. The lower ends of these metal profiles are fitted and welded into
another slightly larger piece of metal profile and further affixed to a metal plate that is bolted on the
pillar. Load- bearing metal bars are bolted on the pillars. They form the roof framework.

The roof has a single slope. It is made of

corrugated iron covering a 5-mm thick insulation
material that is screwed onto the roof
framework to reduce temperature variation.
The walls are made of concrete blocks covered by cement in their lower part ( 1m above the ground
), whereas the upper part is made of two types of wire mesh set next to each other. The first one, a
large wire mesh ( mesh size: 4.5 x 2.2 cm ) is welded to corner irons that are bolted on the
horizontal metal bars set between the concrete pillars, and serves to strengthen the structure. The
second one is a fine wire mesh ( mesh size:5 x 2 mm ) that prevents the entrance of harmful insect.
This method of building guarantees a good ventilation of the larvarium, which is just indispensable
as substrate fermentation produces heat. The floor of the larvarium is made of rough polished
cement on which are built the “digester”.

DIGESTER
Are made of blocks covered by cement.

Digester
INSECTARIUM

The insectarium is a large building with a significant wind surface area. Its design took into account
anti-seismic standards, as well as the capacity to withstand strong winds, after a lighter
construction prototype ( 168 6m in height; roof frame in bamboo covered by fine mesh net of 0.5
mm ) had bee wrecked by gusty winds. Therefore, a more solid construction combining reinforced
concrete and a metallic structure was built to face harsh tropical climatic conditions and risk of
earthquake.

The insectarium occupies an area of ( 44 x 23.6 ) , with an average height of 3.2 m, thereby giving
a volume of 3,364 .
The general building principle are similar to those larvarium, but with a more robust design. The
supporting structure comprises 96 pillars at 3.6m interval in length and 3m in width.
Made up of two parts, a concrete base and metal upper structure , pillars are similar to those of the
larvarium , although they are much larger in every dimension. Longitudinal and transverse girders,
bolted on the end of pillars by a metal cross-shaped support, are arranged along the longitudinal
and transversal axes of the insectarium to form the roof frame. Longitudinal metallic joists were
welded to the transversal girders to strengthen the structure.
Insectarium Puparium
These structure are necessary to ensure the
smooth running of the insectarium and to
protect pupae during metamorphosis.
Be creative use the
unused 
Production of pupae

Collection of eggs laid by wild adults or egg production in controlled rearing condition is a
prerequisite for the efficient rearing of Hermetia illucens. Whatever the purpose if production-
larvae indicated to animal feed and/or reduction of organic wastes it is recommended to use
homogenous larvae (age, size,weight) from the first days following hatching. This will contribute to
standardize the production and optimizebioconversion. The capture of wild BSF adults is possible;
however it overlooks the issues of acclimation to captivity. Moreover, considering the short life of
BSF adult (5-14days), it would have little efficiency.
On the other hand , the regular collection of eggs soon after spontaneous breeding is easier and can
optimize rearing, as larvae are homogeneous in age and size. To achieve this goal

 Close to insect natural habitat

 Several egg container
 Attracting substrate
 Nest boxes
 Banana leaves dry
Methods of Egg collection

The eggs masses were carefully removed from the leaves using a small bamboo spatula, put into a
pre-weighed container and weight to estimate the overall productivity of the insectarium.
Breeding in Semi-controlled Environment and Maintenance of BSF adults

the environment in which BSF adults are expected to mate should be

 Similar as possible to natural condition

 Grow some plants
 Resting area
 Little water
Observation confirm the results of concerning the habits of adult BSF are mostly found around
oviposition areas, whereas males prepared resting on the vegetal covering waiting for mature
females to mate.
Distribution of adult male and female BSF in the
insectarium
Environment Male (%) Female (%)
vegetation 59 45
Close to the next box 41 55

The height of the cage is also a key element: mating couples can fly up to 1.5m
above the ground in natural environment. Once adult BSF have emerged,
limited care is required during the rest of their life.
Egg Production

Sex ratio is a key parameter for the production of eggs. Unbalance ratio in favour of males
contributing to a lower egg production.
There is a clear relationship between the number of BSF adults introduced every week in the
insectarium and the amount of eggs that were collected .
Physiological factors you need to consider:

 Low fecundity
 Infertility
 Nutritional deficiencies
 Behavioral factors
 Low mating frequency
 Poor identification of egg laying sites
 Predation
 Abiotic factors
 Lack of environmental stimuli
 Technical factors
 Out of nest boxes
 Efficiency of egg collection
If some of these parameters could be better controlled in the future, the egg yield could be much
higher.
Impact of unbalance sex ratio on the production

There is no account of skewed sex ratio of BSF populations in the scientific literature, in contrast
the situation observe in the insectarium ( 64% males and 36% females). Showed that the origin of
a BSF population ( wild or domesticated) and diet used to feed their larvae did not affect the sex
ratio in this species. We have attempted to evaluated the production loss caused by the deviation
of the sex ration in the insectarium in Depok. With an average of 464,000 BSF emerging in the
pilot-insectarium and balance sex ratio 1:1, the amount of eggs produced every week should reach
about 4.2 kg ( with an average number of 637 eggs per female. In depok’s insectarium only 36% of
emerging insects are females (thus 167,000 individuals), which can account for reduction of egg
production by a margin of 28%. Nevertheless the actual egg production (215g per week) is far from
the 3kg that would have been expected with the observe sex ratio.
 Growth in Captivity: from larva to Imago

The production pilot operates as a “closed-loop process”. Generations of insects are produced one
after another without any introduction of wild individuals. The large amount of individuals produced
by generation allows enough genetic mixing and reduces risk of consanguinity.

To optimize the development of larvae it is necessarily to supply them with

 Specific diet will fuel a fast growth

 Give them food that rich in lipids – this lipid acts a big role because it represent the largest part
of energy used by adult insects, and just essential for performing oogenesis
Differences between- sex size and weight dimorphism of BSF in the insectarium

GENDER Body length (mm) Body weight (mg)

Male 12.7 30.2 1.2
Female 13.5 37.9 1.6

In routine production, larvae of BSF reach the pupal

stage
Within 283 days. From then on, about 14 days are
necessary to allow the emergence of 90% of the
cohort. The life of adult BSF is 8-9days and
oviposition starts generally 4 days after emergence.

Hatching and the first Six days

Every week, a small proportion of eggs collected in
the insectarium is weighted carefully to determine
the hatching rate and the survival rate at 6 day the
larvae are big enough to be counted accurately .
The hatching rate, as determined on the basis of survival at 6 day is 79.5% in the pilot
conditions. This parameter is estimated for every production cycle, because it is necessary to
evaluate and optimized the various stages of the production system ( pupae, larvae used as live
food ).