ArticleJournal of the Royal Society, Interface2019
Black soldier fly larvae feed by forming a fountain around food.
Article in Journal of the Royal Society, Interface, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 10 papers.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
10 citing papers in PubMed, 49 citations in OpenAlex.
- Vertical Redistribution of Black Soldier Fly Larvae (Insects · 2026Article
- Neanderthals, hypercarnivores, and maggots: Insights from stable nitrogen isotopes.Science advances · 2025Article
- Larval density drives thermogenesis and affects microbiota and substrate properties in black soldier fly trials.iScience · 2025Article
- A First Step Towards Black Soldier Fly Larvae (Diptera: Stratiomyidae) Welfare by Considering Dietary Regimes (Part I).Insects · 2024Article
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- Article
- Microbiota is structured by gut regions, life stage, and diet in the Black Soldier Fly (Frontiers in microbiology · 2023Article
- Article
- Growth efficiency, intestinal biology, and nutrient utilization and requirements of black soldier fly (Hermetia illucens) larvae compared to monogastric livestock species: a review.Journal of animal science and biotechnology · 2022Review
- A high-quality, chromosome-level genome assembly of the Black Soldier Fly (Hermetia illucens L.).G3 (Bethesda, Md.) · 2021Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
4 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
The black soldier fly is a non-pest insect of interest to the sustainability community due to the high eating rates of its edible larvae. When found on carcases or piles of rotting fruit, this larva often outcompetes other species of scavengers for food. In this combined experimental and theoretical study, we elucidate the mechanism by which groups of black soldier fly larvae can eat so quickly. We use time-lapse videography and particle image velocimetry to investigate feeding by black soldier fly larvae. Individually, larvae eat in 5 min bursts, for 44% of the time, they are near food. This results in their forming roadblocks around the food, reducing the rate that food is consumed. To overcome these limitations, larvae push each other away from the food source, resulting in the formation of a fountain of larvae. Larvae crawl towards the food from below, feed and then are expelled on the top layer. This self-propagating flow pushes away potential roadblocks, thereby increasing eating rate. We present mathematical models for the rate of eating, incorporating flow rates measured from our experiments.
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What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.