Creating a buzz around ‘fly farming’ – Information Centre – Research & Innovation

© Sergio Yoneda #235299032, source:inventory.adobe.com 2020

Flies are a vital section of the ecosystem – they supply food for other animals, pollinate crops and recycle natural and organic waste. The possible of these lowly but vital insects has been recognised for some time and a quantity of species are presently currently being reared commercially.

Their use in Europe is rising following an EU Regulation was handed in 2017 allowing the use of insect proteins from a number of fly species – together with the black soldier fly and housefly – as feed in aquaculture. Flies presently supply a protein source in some pet meals and could before long be applied to feed poultry and pigs.

The EU-funded FLYHIGH task has offered new understanding about the make-up and life cycles of particular fly species. Just one crucial activity was to explore the genetic diversity of reared and organic populations of the black soldier fly, which is a person of the most commercially crucial insects throughout the world.

In their DNA

‘We carried out the most comprehensive black soldier fly sampling that we are mindful of and applied the results to crank out a comprehensive library of mitochondrial DNA sequences connected to geographic info,’ states Aino Juslén, task coordinator primarily based at the University of Helsinki, Finland. ‘These outcomes will be crucial to recent and upcoming programmes for the synthetic rearing, choice and intense production of the black soldier fly.’

The DNA sequences have been uploaded to the publicly obtainable database GenBank.

Moreover, the FLYHIGH workforce discovered means to enhance rearing protocols for particular fly species. Scientists examined how elements this sort of as temperature, humidity and diet plan can impact on fly growth. As effectively as the black soldier fly, the task assessed rearing processes for other artificially reared species, together with the housefly and the green bottle fly.

As a end result, new larval feeding strategies have been produced and the effectiveness of particular strains of fly species has been evaluated on distinct growth mediums. The increased synthetic-rearing protocols for equally the housefly and green bottle fly amplified maggot action and made flies far more efficiently and sustainably.

Highlight on species

Less than laboratory problems, FLYHIGH also researched the life cycle of flies with distinct positions in the food chain, this sort of as hoverflies and blow flies, together with their shut relationships with particular crops. The two species groups could have applications in organic ecosystems or agricultural environments as plant pollinators or to aid decompose natural and organic waste.

‘We documented the particular prerequisites for each and every researched species group to endure in synthetic-rearing problems and sooner or later reproduce in captivity,’ clarifies Juslén.

The task collected info for fly species dispersed in Mediterranean ecosystems of South Africa and Europe. New host crops ended up recorded for some species, this sort of as particular bulb crops like lilies and aloe succulent crops. The results exposed that the quantity of ingested pollen for fly survival diverse noticeably amid the researched species.

This task was funded by way of the EU’s Marie Skłodowska-Curie actions programme which supports teaching of researchers and workers exchanges. The task delivered an lively schedule of understanding transfer by way of tutorial visits, teaching courses, fieldwork and scientific seminars.