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Insects
Special Issues
Innovation in Development and Utilization of Resource Insects
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Innovation in Development and Utilization of Resource Insects

A Special Issue of Insects (ISSN 2075-4450) belonging to the section "Role of Insects in Human Society".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 August 2026) | Viewed by 1425

Editor

Dr. Changlong Shu

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
State Key Laboratory for Biology of Plant Diseases and Insect Pests, Institute of Plant Protection, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing 100193, China
Interests: resource insects; Protaetia brevitarsis; agricultural waste valorization; soil ecological restoration; insect protein production
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The intensification of global climate change, the tightening of resource constraints, and the continuous growth of population constitute a triple overlapping pressure, making food security and ecological security the core bottlenecks restricting the sustainable development of human society. Edible insects, with their unique advantages such as high-quality protein supply, efficient conversion of organic waste, and high bioavailability, provide an important strategic approach to solving the current food supply dilemma.

However, at present, the development of edible insects is still in its primary stage in terms of core technical links such as breeding, reproduction, cultivation, and processing, as well as the construction of supporting systems, including safety assessment, policies and regulations, and standard systems. Therefore, we specially host this Special Issue titled "Innovation in Development and Utilization of Resource Insects", aiming to build a high-level academic exchange platform in the field of edible insects. This platform will comprehensively present the latest research progress in this field, and the types of manuscripts accepted by this Special Issue include research papers and review articles.

Dr. Changlong Shu
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-anonymized peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Insects is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • edible insects
  • resource insects
  • straw utilization
  • organic waste bioconversion
  • insect farming
  • Protaetia brevitarsis

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Further information on MDPI's Special Issue policies can be found here.

Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

13 pages, 4204 KB  
Article
Effect of Substrate Composition on Bioconversion and Nutritional Quality of Hermetia illucens Larvae in Tropical Systems
by Ana M. E. Camargo García, Stephanie Samaniego, Gustavo Quirós and Pablo Montero-Prado
Insects 2026, 17(8), 799; https://doi.org/10.3390/insects17080799 - 1 Aug 2026
Viewed by 422
Abstract
Organic waste valorisation using black soldier fly larvae (BSFL), Hermetia illucens L., offers a biological strategy to transform biodegradable residues into biomass with potential feed applications. This study evaluated five fruit–vegetable residue mixtures under tropical conditions: 100% fruit (100F), 100% vegetables (100V), 50% [...] Read more.
Organic waste valorisation using black soldier fly larvae (BSFL), Hermetia illucens L., offers a biological strategy to transform biodegradable residues into biomass with potential feed applications. This study evaluated five fruit–vegetable residue mixtures under tropical conditions: 100% fruit (100F), 100% vegetables (100V), 50% fruit–50% vegetables (50F–50V), 70% fruit–30% vegetables (70F–30V) and 30% fruit–70% vegetables (30F–70V), using three independent rearing units per diet. The analysis included initial egg mass, estimated viable larvae, coffee husk input as structural bulking material, tray-level process conditions, larval biomass, dry feed offered and estimated bioconversion indicators. The 100F treatment produced the greatest dry biomass (0.1311 ± 0.0132 kg), while 100V and 50F–50V showed favourable input-normalised responses. Biomass was also expressed relative to estimated viable larvae and dry feed offered to support treatment interpretation under the operational conditions evaluated. Coffee husk improved substrate handling and was incorporated into the dry-matter balance; therefore, adjusted BCR was interpreted as a process balance indicator and complemented with biomass yield per dry feed offered. Estimated protein values ranged from 35.4% to 38.1% in selected composite samples. Salmonella spp. were absent in pooled microbiological samples, Escherichia coli was <10 CFU/g, and screened heavy metals were below the laboratory detection limit in selected composite samples. Overall, the results support the potential of BSFL systems for valorising local fruit and vegetable residues under tropical conditions. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Innovation in Development and Utilization of Resource Insects)
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22 pages, 9351 KB  
Article
Effects of Soybean- and Cottonseed-Based Diets on Growth Performance and Gut Microbiota of Black Soldier Fly Larvae
by Xingbao Feng, Ying Cui, Song Liu, Qianru Mo, Jingyi Hu, Xinyu Duan, Jiaxuan Jian, Ling Tian, Huiyu Yi and Zhijun Huang
Insects 2026, 17(7), 675; https://doi.org/10.3390/insects17070675 - 28 Jun 2026
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 521
Abstract
The impacts of various feed substrates and processing treatments (boiling and extrusion) designed to reduce plant-derived antinutritional factors on the growth and development, nutritional composition, and intestinal microbiota of black soldier fly larvae (BSFL) were evaluated. The research revealed that, except for the [...] Read more.
The impacts of various feed substrates and processing treatments (boiling and extrusion) designed to reduce plant-derived antinutritional factors on the growth and development, nutritional composition, and intestinal microbiota of black soldier fly larvae (BSFL) were evaluated. The research revealed that, except for the soybean flour group, the cottonseed meal group and the treatment group with antinutritional factors removed showed better growth trends compared to the Gainesville House Fly Diet group. The heat-processed groups had higher maximum larval weights, survival rates, and feed conversion rates than the untreated groups. Additionally, BSFL fed with high-protein and high-fat experimental diets generally exhibited higher fat and protein contents. Plant-derived antinutritional factors in the test substrates significantly affected the intestinal microbiota and their metabolic pathways in BSFL. Gut microbiota—including phyla such as Firmicutes, Proteobacteria, and Bacteroidetes, along with various lactic acid—and short-chain fatty acid-producing genera—and metabolic pathways related to carbohydrates, amino acids, cofactors, and vitamins, play crucial roles in helping BSFL resist plant antinutritional factors. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Innovation in Development and Utilization of Resource Insects)
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