Abstract
Lipids are an important class of nutrients for insects, as they are the main energy source during metamorphosis and crucial for survival and reproduction. Lipid reserves in insects are mostly accumulated during larval development and can be influenced by environmental factors such as diet and temperature. Genetic factors can also affect larval lipid content and composition. Larvae of the house fly, Musca domestica L. (Diptera: Muscidae), are a valuable emerging resource for the insect feed sector, fueling a growing interest in the factors regulating larval lipid content. We investigated whether strains of three geographical origins vary in ontogeny, quantity, and composition of stored lipids in response to temperature. Italian, Spanish, and Dutch house fly larvae were reared on a similar diet at 25 and 35 °C. Larval dry weight and total lipid content were determined in early-, mid-, and late-third instars by extraction of soluble lipids. The fatty acid composition was analyzed in late-third instars using an improved extraction and derivatization protocol. We found that strain, larval stage, and temperature affected larval dry weight and absolute and relative lipid content, with significant interaction effects between these three factors. All flies were reared in a common environment, indicating a genetic component to lipid storage. Analysis of lipid composition identified 11 fatty acids, including some rarely reported in the literature. Five fatty acids accounted for 80 and 81% of the total fatty acid methyl esters detected at 25 and 35 °C, respectively. An effect of temperature but not strain was evident on the composition of the fatty acids. The observed differences in lipid content among strains and temperature conditions could be of interest for commercial rearing of the house fly.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 248-257 |
| Number of pages | 10 |
| Journal | Entomologia experimentalis et applicata |
| Volume | 171 |
| Issue number | 4 |
| Early online date | 27 Jan 2023 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - Apr 2023 |
Bibliographical note
Funding Information:This work was supported by the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research project ALWGK.2016.017: Towards Utilizing Livestock Manure for Mass Rearing of Houseflies for Feed, as part of the funding scheme ‘Closed cycles – Transition to a circular economy’. We are thankful to Dr. Ljubinka Francuski (RUG), who supported the provision of the house fly strains, and Martin van Velzen (VUA) and Dr. Alessandro Laudicella for their support in the analysis of the qualitative lipid profile. We are also thankful for the fruitful discussion and feedback received from the consortium partners of Wageningen University and Research and for the valuable contribution received from the reviewers of this manuscript. W.L. Jansen is an equity owner and member of the board of Amusca B.V. and L.W. Beukeboom is editor of Entomologia Experimentalis et Applicata.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2023 The Authors. Entomologia Experimentalis et Applicata published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of Netherlands Entomological Society.
Funding
This work was supported by the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research project ALWGK.2016.017: Towards Utilizing Livestock Manure for Mass Rearing of Houseflies for Feed, as part of the funding scheme ‘Closed cycles – Transition to a circular economy’. We are thankful to Dr. Ljubinka Francuski (RUG), who supported the provision of the house fly strains, and Martin van Velzen (VUA) and Dr. Alessandro Laudicella for their support in the analysis of the qualitative lipid profile. We are also thankful for the fruitful discussion and feedback received from the consortium partners of Wageningen University and Research and for the valuable contribution received from the reviewers of this manuscript. W.L. Jansen is an equity owner and member of the board of Amusca B.V. and L.W. Beukeboom is editor of Entomologia Experimentalis et Applicata.
Keywords
- Diptera
- fat storage
- genetic component
- geographic variation
- insects for food and feed
- lipid metabolism
- mass rearing
- Musca domestica
- Muscidae
- nutrients
- phenotypic plasticity
- temperature effect