I fear Black Soldier Fly are getting lumped in with those nasty disease carrying flys. Black Soldier Flys don't have mouths for eating. They might drink nectar from flowers but they can't eat or bite so they don't land on nasty things. They only live to reproduce and do it in just a few days then they die. They lay their eggs above a food source that the larvae fall into when they hatch.
Black Soldier Fly Larvae are nutritious and could possibly a cocci preventative.
They are also fed to expensive lizards. I would think if they were harmful they wouldn't be fed to reptile pets.
Here are some excerpts from: http://www.cals.ncsu.edu/waste_mgt/smithfield_projects/phase2report05/cd,web%20files/A2.pdf
POTENTIAL FEED VALUE OF LARVAE
(pg 9) Chicks fed a diet containing dried black soldier fly larvae as the protein supplement (Hale, 1973) gained weight at a rate 96% (n.s.) of that of chicks fed soybean meal plus fat, but they only consumed 93% (P<0.05) as much feed.
(pg 8) Soldier fly larvae have been fed experimentally to several animal species, with larvae or prepupae used to replace soybean or fish meal in formulated diets. These feeding tests have utilized cockerels (Hale, 1973), pigs (Newton et al., 1977) and catfish and tilapia (Bondari & Sheppard, 1981, Sheppard and Newton 2000). The soldier fly larval meal was a suitable replacement for conventional protein and fat sources. Amino acid profiles reported by Newton et al. (1977) for a mixed age larval population harvested from finishing steer manure, and that for self-harvested prepupae from swine manure during 2003 and analyzed by a commercial laboratory (Table 1). If rendered to obtain oil and protein meal, amino acids levels should be about 40% greater than those shown (Table 1). Essential amino acid levels for such a meal from larvae produced on swine manure should be similar to soybean meal in lysine, lucine, phenylanine, and threonine; higher in methionine, histidine, valine, and tryptophan; and lower in isoleucine and arginine. Additional fractionation of prepupae to remove the chitinous cuticle might also improve the amino acid profile.
(pg 3) These unmanaged populations eliminated house fly breeding through larval competition and female house flies avoided ovipositing where Hermetia illuscens larvae occurred. Although, the black soldier fly reduced manure residue in such poultry operations, utilizing black soldier fly as a feedstuff harvest was never attempted.
Black Soldier Fly Larvae are nutritious and could possibly a cocci preventative.
They are also fed to expensive lizards. I would think if they were harmful they wouldn't be fed to reptile pets.
Here are some excerpts from: http://www.cals.ncsu.edu/waste_mgt/smithfield_projects/phase2report05/cd,web%20files/A2.pdf
POTENTIAL FEED VALUE OF LARVAE
(pg 9) Chicks fed a diet containing dried black soldier fly larvae as the protein supplement (Hale, 1973) gained weight at a rate 96% (n.s.) of that of chicks fed soybean meal plus fat, but they only consumed 93% (P<0.05) as much feed.
(pg 8) Soldier fly larvae have been fed experimentally to several animal species, with larvae or prepupae used to replace soybean or fish meal in formulated diets. These feeding tests have utilized cockerels (Hale, 1973), pigs (Newton et al., 1977) and catfish and tilapia (Bondari & Sheppard, 1981, Sheppard and Newton 2000). The soldier fly larval meal was a suitable replacement for conventional protein and fat sources. Amino acid profiles reported by Newton et al. (1977) for a mixed age larval population harvested from finishing steer manure, and that for self-harvested prepupae from swine manure during 2003 and analyzed by a commercial laboratory (Table 1). If rendered to obtain oil and protein meal, amino acids levels should be about 40% greater than those shown (Table 1). Essential amino acid levels for such a meal from larvae produced on swine manure should be similar to soybean meal in lysine, lucine, phenylanine, and threonine; higher in methionine, histidine, valine, and tryptophan; and lower in isoleucine and arginine. Additional fractionation of prepupae to remove the chitinous cuticle might also improve the amino acid profile.
(pg 3) These unmanaged populations eliminated house fly breeding through larval competition and female house flies avoided ovipositing where Hermetia illuscens larvae occurred. Although, the black soldier fly reduced manure residue in such poultry operations, utilizing black soldier fly as a feedstuff harvest was never attempted.
