Environmental Frass Remodels the Larval Gut Microbiome to Enable Black Soldier Fly (Hermetia illucens) Bioconversion of Livestock Manure

Wild-sourced frass from a Yuba strain of black soldier fly larvae enables growth on rabbit manure, while domestic frass fails, linked to a lignocellulose-degrading gut microbiome.

• Why it matters: Rabbit manure’s high lignocellulose content is a difficult substrate for BSFL bioconversion, and it was unclear whether frass microbes are required and how captive rearing changes them.
• What they did: The study compared BSFL growth on rabbit manure with supplementation by domestic versus wild-sourced frass, then used microbiome analysis to track lignocellulose-degrading taxa and tested effects on cattle manure.
• The result: Wild-sourced frass added Rummeliibacillus bacteria and Scedosporium fungi that promoted growth on rabbit and cattle manure, but after initial seeding, lab-cultured frass lost this support and the gut shifted toward domestic-associated microbes.

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