Black Soldier Fly maggots – the key to solving food waste
Netflix and chill might cut it for some these days, but in the world of flies, romance is everything.
Our insect behaviour experts have gone under the sheets to find out what gets flies in the mood. Not just for kicks but in a bid to produce more eggs for food waste management.
They tested everything from lighting, temperature, moisture, surface texture and diet to see what got the Black Soldier Flies more interested in each other.
What they found could be the secret to cutting down food waste.
Hot under the (flies) collar
The research was conducted with our partners at Canberra waste management start-up, Goterra. They breed Black Soldier Fly maggots to eat through food waste, which then turns it into compost. This research project was supported by CSIRO’s Kick-Start program, which matches start-ups and small-to-medium businesses with research and development activities.
Goterra is all about driving Australia towards a circular economy for food production. And breeding insects is critical to their vision. In essence, more eggs equals more flies. More flies means more ways to eat through food waste, reduce landfill, reduce emissions from transporting food to landfill and more ways to enrich soils with nutrient-rich fertiliser.
Our research helped Goterra breed these flies for effective results.
Speaking of vision, we hear the experiments on the flies resulted in footage on par with outtakes of Love Island.
Entomologist Dr Cate Paull said they placed cameras in the cages and changed the conditions over time. Then they could see when activity increased and decreased.
The cameras provided a live feed to Cate’s mobile phone. This allowed them to watch the flies breed in real-time. As flies also have such short mating times, having real-time access allowed the entomologists to change the conditions or activities of the flies, maximising their insights for future populations.
Dr Cate Paull and Goterra CEO Olympia Yarger at Goterra
Flying towards a more sustainable future
The team at our Australian National Insect Collection facility is investigating what insects are viable for sustainable futures, supporting the industry for versatile alternatives to everything from protein sources to landfill.
This project with Goterra is one such example of what we’re doing.
Goterra CEO Olympia Yarger said Australia is at risk of falling behind other countries, who are ahead of us in progressing towards a circular economy (an economy which minimises waste by making the most of resources).
The further we fall behind, the higher chance we’ll miss out on creating local jobs and local industry.
23rd August 2019 at 10:40 am
Another use for flies not discused is – MAGGOTS,
1)They are the prefered food for birds. (CHICKENS, ducks and wild life).
2)Maggots work in combined Groups, (Refer historical Movies) Can be trained to exit points for collection.
3)Unmentioned is the use of Maggots used in the making of the ((BEST-SOAPS.))!! (Refer Industrial Soap Makers).
See what you can learn from being a fly on the wall!!
21st August 2019 at 6:26 pm
I have had a ‘dry’ compost bin for many years to save water and the larvae of soldier flies as well as earwigs and fruit beetles, rather than earthworms, are the main agent breaking down my food waste..
Dr Roger Farrow (Ex CSIRO Entomology)
21st August 2019 at 2:18 pm
Better to produce edible insects, such as are favoured in Asia. In Thailand (details available from Mahasarakham University) the nutritional value of edible insects has been determined. They are grown in quantity and canned for local sale. … and export opportunity for Australia!
21st August 2019 at 12:50 pm
My name is Carlo and I am General Manager I work for a company in ST Marys NSW called Environmental Protection Equipment (EPE) we have a colony of Black Soldier Flies experiment that we stared over 1 month ago. We have have successfully fed and grown the larvae and we have hatched flies . We are in the process of breading currently in mesh cages. We are happy to share some notes and we would allow a visit to our colony.
21st August 2019 at 11:51 am
Excellent research – might enhance flys’ reputations and reduce insect spray use…!