Soldier fly

Description:

Hermetia illucens, the black soldier fly, is a common and widespread fly of the family Stratiomyidae. Unlike many fly species neither the larvae nor adults are considered pests or vectors. Instead, black soldier fly larvae play a similar role to that of mushrooms as essential decomposers in breaking down organic substrates and returning nutrients to the soil/environment. Black soldier fly larvae . are an excellent source of sustainable protein for aqua culture/ animal feed, pet and human nutrition. As the larvae have voracious appetites they can be used for composting household food scraps and agricultural waste products.

Notes:

Larvae are beneficial in the following ways: They prevent houseflies and blowflies from laying eggs in the material inhabited by black soldier fly larvae. They are usually not a pest. They are not attracted to human habitation or foods.As a detritivore and coprovore, the egg-bearing females are attracted to rotting food or manure. Black soldier flies do not fly around as much as houseflies. They are very easy to catch and relocate when they get inside a house, as they do not avoid being picked up, they are sanitary, and they do not bite or sting. Their only defense seems to be hiding. When using a wet grub bin that will collect or kill all the pupae, the black soldier fly population is easy to reduce by killing the pupae/prepupae in the collection container, before they become flies. They may be killed by freezing, drying, manually feeding to domestic animals, putting the collection container in a chicken coop for automatic feeding, or feeding to wild birds with a mouse/pest-proof feeder