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Influences of chromium and cadmium on the development of black soldier fly larvae

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Abstract

The black soldier fly Hermetia illucens is a good candidate for waste management. The harvested insects are rich in protein and have the potential to be used in animal feed. However, people are wary about heavy metals in waste. Therefore, it is necessary to understand how the uptake of heavy metals could affect H. illucens and where and to what extent metals are accumulated by the black soldier fly. Based on these considerations, developmental parameters were investigated in the different life stages of H. illucens fed an increasing concentration gradient of cadmium (Cd) and chromium (Cr); additionally, Cd and Cr distribution in the body parts of H. illucens at the different life stages was monitored. We found that Cd and Cr have no effects on larvae survival and eclosion rate, but they do have effects on larvae duration and pupation rate. Both Cd and Cr were transferred into larvae, prepupae, and pupae. While the concentrations of Cd in larvae and prepupae were much higher than that in their diets, the opposite case was observed with Cr. The concentrations of Cd and Cr in H. illucens decreased in later development stages. In individual larva and prepupa, Cd and Cr were mainly included in the body and not in the integument. In the pupa, the puparium contained higher Cd and Cr concentrations than the pupa body. The distribution of Cd and Cr in the different life stages and body parts may present a potential strategy for how H. illucens tolerate and remove heavy metal stress.

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Acknowledgements

Great appreciation is given to Mr. Huang Qingchao from the college of resource and environmental (Huazhong Agricultural University, China) for providing necessary facilities and Miss Zhang Wenjuan from Hubei Insect Resources Utilization and Sustainable Pest Management Key Laboratory (Huazhong Agricultural University, China) for excellent technical guidance.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Hubei International Cooperation Base for Waste Conversion by Insects, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan, 430070, China

    Qiao Gao, Xiaoyun Wang, Wanqiang Wang, Chaoliang Lei & Fen Zhu

  2. Hubei Insect Resources Utilization and Sustainable Pest Management Key Laboratory, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan, 430070, China

    Qiao Gao, Xiaoyun Wang, Wanqiang Wang, Chaoliang Lei & Fen Zhu

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  1. Qiao Gao
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  2. Xiaoyun Wang
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  3. Wanqiang Wang
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  4. Chaoliang Lei
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  5. Fen Zhu
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Correspondence to Fen Zhu.

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The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

Funding

This work was supported by the Agricultural Technology Transfer Research Challenge Fund (Grant No.9321301), the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (No.2014PY059), and HZAU-Funded Doctoral Research Project.

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Responsible editor: Philippe Garrigues

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Gao, Q., Wang, X., Wang, W. et al. Influences of chromium and cadmium on the development of black soldier fly larvae. Environ Sci Pollut Res 24, 8637–8644 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-017-8550-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-017-8550-3

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