Author: Tai-Chuan Wang^1,*, Hsien-Tzung Shih¹, Shu-Chen Chang¹, Me-Chi Yao¹, and Chi-Yang Lee¹

¹ Applied Zoology Division, Taiwan Agricultural Research Institute, Taichung city, Taiwan, ROC.

Abstract

    Insects contain high nutrients including protein, fatty acid, and minerals. Insects as a protein source for animal feed have many advantages, including short life cycle, high food conversion rate, low environmental impact. Therefore, insects have been regarded as alternative protein source in the future. As insect species are very diverse with different life cycles and different foods they eat, it is necessary to understand their special behaviors in order to be able to complete the mass rearing of them efficiently. The review focuses on common insect species as feed, like mealworm (Tenebrio molitor), black solider fly (Hermetia illucens), housefly (Musca domestica), house cricket (Acheta domesticus) and two-spotted cricket (Gryllus bimaculatus) and describes their life cycles, rearing equipments, oviposition methods, feeding substrate developments and harvest of targeted insect. We do hope that such knowledge related to insect breeding technology can form the foundation for the future development of the feed insect industry in Taiwan.

Key words: Insects as feed, Life cycle, Rearing equipment, Rearing technologies.

Download: PDF Links