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Microplastics in the diet of Hermetia illucens: Implications for development and midgut bacterial and fungal microbiota
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Researchers fed black soldier fly larvae diets containing PVC microplastics at various concentrations and found the insects could tolerate even high levels (20% of diet) without significant increases in death rates. The larvae ingested and reduced the size of the plastic particles, and while their overall gut microbial diversity remained stable, certain bacterial and fungal populations shifted. This suggests black soldier flies could potentially help process plastic waste, though the safety of using these insects as animal feed after plastic exposure needs further study.
In a world with a population exceeding 8 billion people and continuing to grow, pollution from food and plastic waste is causing long-term issues in ecosystems. Potential solutions may be found by exploiting insect-based bioconversion. In this context, we investigated the impact of polyvinyl chloride microparticles (PVC-MPs) on the development of Hermetia illucens (black soldier fly; BSF) and its midgut bacterial and fungal microbiota. The impact of PVC-MPs was evaluated feeding BSF larvae with a PVC-MPs-supplemented diet. The larvae exposed to different PVC-MPs concentrations (2.5%, 5%, 10% and 20% w/w) developed into adults with no significant increase in pupal mortality. Faster development and smaller pupae were observed when 20% PVC-MPs was provided. The BSF larvae ingest PVC-MPs, resulting in a reduction in MPs size. Larvae exposed to PVC-MPs did not exhibit differences in gut morphology. Regarding the impact of PVC-MPs on the structure of both bacterial and fungal communities, the overall alpha- and beta-diversity did not exhibit significant changes. However, the presence of PVC-MPs significantly affected the relative abundances of Enterobacteriaceae and Paenibacillaceae among the bacteria and of Dipodascaceae and Plectospharellaceae among the fungi (including yeast and filamentous life forms), suggesting that PVC-MP contamination has a taxa-dependent impact. These results indicate that BSF larvae can tolerate PVC-MPs in their diet, supporting the potential use of these insects in organic waste management, even in the presence of high levels of PVC-MP contamination.
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Researchers exposed black soldier fly (Hermetia illucens) larvae to polypropylene microplastics and found that MP exposure delayed pupation, altered larval development, and shifted gut short-chain fatty acid profiles, suggesting that microplastics disrupt both development and gut microbiome function in this widely used bioconversion insect.
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