Isolation and morphological study of ecologically-important insect “Hermetia illucens” collected from Roorkee compost plant

Certain species of Hermetia illucens, also known as the Black Soldier Fly (BSF), were found in a compost plant in Roorkee located in Northern India. Its larvae are voracious eaters of organic waste, hence can play an ecologically-important role in solid waste management. Morphological analysis of various stages of BSF life cycle by SEM showed that its body along with its wings is densely covered with hair. The identified species of BSF were black in color and oviposited into the composted material. The larvae grew up to 30 mm long in 12 days from an initial length of only 6mm, gaining almost 200% of its initial weight after voraciously feeding on organic waste. The mouth of the H. illucens showed a well-developed mandibular-maxillary complex that had similar characteristics of scavengers, making the insect a suitable candidate for organic waste consumption.