Assessing the Nutritional Value of Black Soldier Fly Larvae (Hermetia Illucens) Used for Reptile Foods Kimberly L
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Louisiana State University LSU Digital Commons LSU Master's Theses Graduate School April 2019 Assessing the Nutritional Value of Black Soldier Fly Larvae (Hermetia illucens) Used for Reptile Foods Kimberly L. Boykin Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/gradschool_theses Part of the Other Veterinary Medicine Commons Recommended Citation Boykin, Kimberly L., "Assessing the Nutritional Value of Black Soldier Fly Larvae (Hermetia illucens) Used for Reptile Foods" (2019). LSU Master's Theses. 4927. https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/gradschool_theses/4927 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate School at LSU Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in LSU Master's Theses by an authorized graduate school editor of LSU Digital Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. ASSESSING THE NUTRITIONAL VALUE OF BLACK SOLDIER FLY LARVAE (HERMETIA ILLUCENS) USED FOR REPTILE FOODS A Thesis Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of the Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science in The Department of Veterinary Sciences by Kimberly Lynne Boykin B.S., Florida State University, 2008 D.V.M., North Carolina State University, 2016 May 2019 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I am greatly indebted to a number of individuals whose expertise and support have been instrumental in helping me reach the completion of my thesis research. Foremost, I would like to express my sincerest gratitude to my major professor/advisor/ life coach, Dr. Mark Mitchell. If it were not for his continued enthusiasm, motivation, and guidance, I would not be where I am today. He truly took me under his wing and has taught me how to become the best clinician scientist I can be. I could not have imagined having a better advisor and mentor for my graduate studies. I would also like to thank the rest of my thesis committee, Drs. Thomas Tully and Rhett Stout for their encouragement, insightful comments, and guidance through the completion of this project. My sincerest thanks also go to all of the wonderful people at Fluker's Cricket Farm. David, Waco, Vance, Casey, and Sam have been the best cheerleaders a girl could ask for. Their support of these projects was instrumental and I would never have been able to complete them without their help. The reptiles in the projects would also like to express their thanks for all of the yummy insects you guys provided! I thank my fellow labmates and team members within the Zoological Medicine service including Drs. Laure Molitor, Sean Perry, Anke Stöhr, Kelly Rockwell, Kyra Berg, Javier Nevarez, and Ms. Jordan Padlo, for their assistance in projects and for providing me with contacts, knowledge, or skills to further develop as a veterinarian. Their friendship and support has been indispensable during these last two years. ii I must express a special gratitude to the veterinary students and staff within the Department of Laboratory Animal Medicine who spent countless hours helping me to care for the numerous animals that were a part of this project. To Karina Butler-Perez, Jordan Peters, and Cameron Buck, thank you from the bottom of my heart for all of your hard work and for allowing me a few days off every now and then. I greatly enjoyed the time we got to spend with each other and wish you all the best in your future careers. To Janelle Allen, thank you for your assistance and patience while having to deal with so many reptiles and escaped insects! To everyone at Louisiana State University's School of Veterinary Medicine that I have had the privilege to work with during my internship and graduate program, thank you for your friendship, mentorship, and scholarship. My time at LSU has been a wonderful experience and I appreciate all of the things that I have gotten to do and learn during my time here. Special thanks are in order to Dr. Renee Carter for her assistance with one of the projects and to Drs. Rebekah Gallaher and Amy Grooters for their continued interests in my research pursuits. Finally, my deepest gratitude is for my family. They have supported and loved me in all that I have done in my life, even if they have not fully understood the full extent of my research projects nor the reasons for doing them. Most importantly, thank you to my fiancé Chad, who has patiently endured countless nights and weekends interrupted by research pursuits and the endless amount of writing that has accompanied it. Thank you for believing in me and supporting me through this journey. I love you all. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS…………………………………………………….………...ii LIST OF TABLES……………………………………………………………………......vi LIST OF FIGURES………………………………………………………………………vii ABSTRACT…………………………………………………………………………….viii CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION………………………………………………………….1 CHAPTER 2. LITERATURE REVIEW……………………………………………..……4 2.1. Captive Reptiles and the Current Feeder Insect Market……………………….4 2.2. Black Soldier Fly Natural History………………………………………….....9 2.3. Factors Affecting the Black Soldier Fly Life Cycle………………………….10 2.4. Different Uses for Black Soldier Fly Larvae…………………………………13 2.5. Nutrient Composition of Black Soldier Fly Larvae………………………….15 2.6. Black Soldier Fly Larvae Used in Animal Feeds…………………………….21 2.7. Black Soldier Fly Larvae Used as Feed for Exotics Species…………………25 2.8. Research Objectives……………………………………………………...….28 CHAPTER 3. EVALUATION OF VITAMIN A GUT LOADING IN BLACK SOLDIER FLY LARVAE (HERMETIA ILLUCENS)…………………………………………..…...30 3.1. Introduction………………………………………………………………….30 3.2. Materials and Methods………………………………………………………32 3.3. Results…………………………………………………………………….....36 3.4. Discussion…………………………………………………………………...39 CHAPTER 4. DIGESTIBILITY OF BLACK SOLDIER FLY LARVAE WHEN FED TO LEOPARD GECKOS (EUBLEPHARIS MACULARIUS)……………………………….47 4.1. Introduction……………………………………………………………...…..47 4.2. Materials and Methods…………………………………………………...….49 4.3. Results…………………………………………………………………….....55 4.4. Discussion……………………………………………………………….......59 CHAPTER 5. DEVELOPMENT OF A NOVEL INSECT-BASED SAUSAGE DIET FOR SNAKES…………………………………………………………………………………70 5.1. Introduction………………………………………………………...………..70 5.2. Materials and Methods……………………………………………………....72 5.3. Results……………………………………………………………...………..76 5.4. Discussion………………………………………………………………...…79 CHAPTER 6. CONCLUSIONS………………………………………………………….89 iv REFERENCES…………………………………………………………………………..91 VITA……………………………………………………………………………………..99 v LIST OF TABLES Table 2.1. Proximate analysis and select minerals and vitamins found in common feeder insects on an as is basis…………………………………………….7 Table 2.2. Proximate analysis and select minerals and vitamins of BSF larvae on an as is basis…...…………………………………………………………..8 Table 3.1. Larval vitamin A concentrations based on diet concentration and time…37 Table 3.2. Effect of substrate moisture on larval feeding and weight changes over the course of 24 hours……………………………………………..….….38 Table 3.3. Effect of substrate moisture on larval gut loading and final vitamin A concentrations……………………………………………………………39 Table 3.4. Effect of larval density on larval feeding and weight changes over the course of 24 hours………………………………………………………..39 Table 4.1. Apparent digestibility coefficients for leopard geckos fed an exclusive diet of BSF larvae prepared in one of three ways………………….…….57 Table 4.2. Plasma and liver vitamin A concentrations from geckos receiving vitamin A gut loaded BSF larvae versus those receiving non-gut loaded BSF larvae………………………………………………………..57 Table 4.3. Biochemistry results from leopard geckos at baseline and on Day 35…..58 Table 5.1. Nutritional content of the experimental sausage diet versus common whole vertebrate prey fed to juvenile snakes……………………..……...74 Table 5.2. Apparent digestibility coefficients for corn snakes fed either a frozen- thawed mouse diet or an insect-based sausage diet over two experimental periods………………………………………………..……78 vi LIST OF FIGURES Figure 3.1. Effect of dietary vitamin A on BSF larval vitamin A concentrations after 24 hours of gut loading……………………………………………..37 Figure 5.1. Weight in grams for all surviving corn snakes over the four-month time period……………………………………………………………….77 vii ABSTRACT Black soldier fly (BSF) larvae have been studied extensively in animal feed production, but there is limited research for non-production species, such as reptiles, despite their popularity as a calcium-rich feeder insect. The goals of this thesis were to determine the nutritive value of BSF larvae for a lizard species and as an ingredient in a diet formulated for snakes. BSF larvae are deficient in fat soluble vitamins (A, D, and E). Using vitamin A as a test nutrient, several factors were identified that affect the success and consistency of gut loading. Based on the results, the following gut loading recommendations were established: vitamin A concentration of the larval diet should be between 16,000-20,000 mcg/kg, gut loading time period should be 24 hours, dietary moisture content should be between 56-65%, and larval density should be between 0.1-1 larvae/g of moist substrate. Previous research in amphibians has suggested that BSF larvae have low digestibility. Using leopard geckos as a model, gut loaded and non-gut loaded larvae were fed as the primary diet for six months. Compared to the amphibian study, all nutrients were significantly more digestible, with the exception of calcium, as it likely remained bound to the undigested portions