Hermetia illucens as a new and promising species for use in entomoremediation

Publication date: 15 August 2018
Source:Science of The Total Environment, Volume 633
Author(s): Piotr Bulak, Cezary Polakowski, Katarzyna Nowak, Adam Waśko, Dariusz Wiącek, Andrzej Bieganowski
This study investigated the use of Hermetia illucens (black soldier fly - BSF) larvae as a new species for use in entomoremediation. The H. illucens larvae effectively reduced the dry mass of polluted corn leaves by an average of 49% after 36days for both Cd and Zn (50mg·kg⁻¹), which is a better result than that, which can be obtained by one of the standard proposed pretreatments for biomass polluted after phytoextraction: composting. The presence of heavy metals did not significantly affect the dry mass utilization efficiency. Based on this, we proposed the use of H. illucens as a new post-harvest management method of phytoextraction-polluted biomass. Cadmium mostly accumulates in the puparium, while Zn accumulates in the adults. The high Cd content in the puparium further creates possibility of its application in the metal recovery process. It is also proposed that the general definition of entomoremediation be expanded.

Graphical abstract

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