I've been doing composting with worms for maybe 6 years now and about 2 years with Black Soldier Fly Larvae (BSFL). I've very rarely seen them in the garden but this year I've spotted them more than once. With more plants in the backyard and me releasing the overwintering pupae, their population is thriving in this little sanctuary I've build for them and other useful insects.
What are Black Soldier Flies?
Hermetia illucens (their scientific name) is a type of fly that looks more like a black wasp. In its adult form, it does not eat any more, it only uses its mouth piece to drink to stay alive for about 8 days during which it will try to find a partner and mate. The female will then go find a good place to lay her eggs, it's usually a dry and shaded place near a food source. After about 5 days, her 500 to 900 eggs will hatch and the minuscule larvae (less than 2mm in length) will fall or crawl into the food and start eating it voraciously.
Black Soldier Flies are not considered as pests and they don't carry diseases. They don't eat so are not attracted by food like the common house flies. As they oviposit (lay eggs) on a dry surface, they won't touch the food (including manure) like other types of flies, hence they are always clean. You could eat a nice sandwich or any other food and they won't come and buzz around you landing on your food.
This is a portrait I did for this female BSF as she was ovipositing inside one of my BSF compost bin. Look at her beautiful eyes 😄 that purple pattern on blue/green globes is a unique signature of the BSF.
The weather is very warm these days and every time I go in the backyard I can spot a soldier fly on a leaf, like this one on a Moneywort leaf.
Or here on a chilli plant leaf. The male is usually waiting for a female to fly by and would chase her and start mating as they fly and they would then drop on a leaf to continue their business 😘
For lunch, I was eating with my wife by the rocket stove (Friday rocket stove family fun 🤣) when I spotted something was going on. I saw a BSF flying erratically on a leaf, I stopped eating and focus on the scene and noticed there was another fly under that one... OMG! I'm witnessing a love scene between a male and a female BSF! The voyeur in me took control of my body and I reached for my iPhone and ran closer to take a picture 🤣🤣🤣 !!!
I even managed to take a little footage of their intimate activity:
These two were having fun I'm telling you lol. While five others were patiently waiting for their turn on my fish mints.
I went and had a look at my BSF compost bin and noticed few females ovipositing on the egg trap I have built from a pool noodle. The female would usually walk on all the surfaces she can spot and with the tip of her abdomen, she would feel the surface to find some cracks and holes and assess whether or not it will be safe for her eggs.
The eggs look like tiny rice grains and are bright yellow almost white at the beginning and will darken as the egg mature ready to hatch.
On the image above, you can see two holes (that I made with a heated nail into a pool noodle). The white little things around the bottom hole are not eggs, they are spring tails. On the far left, against the edge of the photograph are eggs ready to hatch, noticed how dark they are compared to the fresh ones.
What's the fuzz with BSFL?
In 5 days in average, these eggs will give birth to tiny larvae (yeah maggots...). They start from just over 1mm in length and can grow to around up to 2.70cm (yeah huge maggots 🤣). But those little creatures are eating like if there will be no tomorrow!
Why the world is now turning their eyes towards BSF larvae is because:
- They are great composters, they eat a huge amount of food in no time. Now for those who have a worm bin made of stacking trays, the regular size one with a thriving population of worms would take several days to process 2 kg of fresh kitchen scraps. The same bin full of BSFL would take care of those scraps in less than 24 hours!
- They eat so voraciously that they compete with house fly maggots for food and the poor maggots would die famished. That helps reduce the population of house flies in your backyard!
- They are converting the food scraps into biomass very efficiently
- They don't need water as they take it from the food
- They are made of an average of 42% crude protein and 29% fat and are also rich in calcium
- Chicken, reptiles, fish, pigs and a lot of other animals love eating them
- They are a the solution for the future of aquaculture, we won't need to overfish our ocean to feed the fish we eat
- They can be used for producing biofuel
- They can be used for bio-remediation of polluted soil and ponds
That pile of food waste was gone just over night, can you believe that?! The scraps didn't even have time to rot and smell.
For more about their potential use, check Black Soldier Fly Eco-Technology, an eBook by Larry J. Shier.
And if you want to learn more about composting with BSFL, check my own ebook Introduction to Composting with Black Soldier Fly Larvae
Previously on my Ulog:
- ULOG 132 - It’s not easy to take a break
- ULOG 131 - Car irregular idle speed & Crabby Wallet
- ULOG 130 - Karaoke: L'envie d'aimer (Daniel Lévi, Les Dix Commandements)
- ULOG 126 - More flowers in the garden
- ULOG 125 - Sold out my stock of Black Turmeric rhizomes
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Thanks for all the BSF info.
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I never knew these creatures were so useful in the garden! I find it fascinating that there are species which in their adult stage no longer feed. Completely bonkers! That macro photograph you took is breathtaking. Phenomenal! Oh, and that porn shoot ;) ow ow! Lol!
😂😂
Thanks for your encouraging words.
These little critters are indeed fascinating and I believe there are other creatures which potential benefits are to be discovered (before we kill them all...).
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Wow man... I had no idea about these guys. Are you doing full-blown permie work at your place? It would be great to come see it.
They are more and more popular and companies are set up specifically for them. They have so many potential uses to help us and the Earth, I forgot to mention that the black pupae have a skin that is full of chitin that can be used for medical purposes such as the use of chitosan for wounds and burns
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As for my place, I have not done any permaculture thing yet, or have done it without knowing it lol. I need to start doing as my backyard is not stable, it might look good now and bad in another season.
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I wonder, the soil that is left once the soldier flies have gone, how fertile is that? compared with regular 'rotten leaves / worm digestion compost'?
I mean would it be an option to use soldier flies as a kind of turbo compost machine?
I’d say the frass left by the BSFL is too high in ammonia depending on how you manage your bin. I would not use directly with plants if you feed the BSFL kitchen scraps and it’s wet and muddy. I usually collect the frass, mix it with shredded cardboard, leave the mix for a day or two and give it to the compost worms.
If you manage a BSFL compost bin well and keep it dry so that the frass is just moist and crumbly then it might be fine to use it directly as a soil amendment.
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That including cardboard and worms still seems to be much faster then 'normal composting' I was just wondering how effective this is to speed up composting of kitchen scraps. Where reducing storage space could be an important topic.
Yes going with BSFL first will definitely speed up the composting process.
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