Development, growth and metabolic rate of Hermetia illucens larvae

The larvae of Hermetia illucens are known to successfully bio-convert a vast range of organic substrates into high protein and fat biomass, but little is known about the larval instars. During this research, larval head capsules and biomass growth were measured daily and the specific metabolic rate of larger instars were considered. The head capsule measurements revealed that H. illucens pass through 6 actively feeding larval stadia before entering the last nonfeeding but migrating 7th stadium. Larval growth follows a sigmoid curve with slowly accelerating growth in the earlier stadia and decelerating growth in the latest stadia. In contrast, development was fast until reaching stadium 6 and then slowed down. Accordingly, the specific metabolic rate was high in instars 3, 4 and 5 and reduced in instars 6 and 7.