Geometric Morphometrics Captures Variations in Wing Development of Black Soldier Flies

The black soldier fly is considered an important insect due to its ability to convert organic wast into high quality organic fertilizer. Studies have shown that food quality at the larvae stage contributes greatly to their development. In this study, we applied geometric morphometric measurements to access the variations in the black soldier fly fed on different food substrates as captured in the wings. Eggs of black soldier fly were collected from the field and cultured on different food substrates such as; restaurant waste, fruit waste, wheat brand and layer meal until maturity. The right fore wing of 140 individuals of black were used for the experiment. The results showed a significant difference between the shape of landmarks within each food substrate group. Landmark 3, 7 and 9, corresponding to end of first radial vein R1, intersession between medio-cubital vein and cubito-anal vein (m-cu and CuA), and intersission between cubito Anal vein and Anal vein (CuA + Cup) contributed most to the variation between the different food substrates. Partial least square showed a strong association between food substrate and wing development. Therefore, the variations in wing development could be due to the impact of nutritional compositions quality of the different food substrates.