Student 10-Minute Presentation
Medical, Urban, and Veterinary Entomology
Student
Kalini Jankee
University of Maine
Hampden, Maine
Katelynn Bowker
University of Maine
Orono, Maine
Julia Coombs
University of Maine
Orono, Maine
Matthew A. Moyet (he/him/his)
Graduate Research Assistant
University of Maine
Orono, Maine
Edward Bernard
University of Maine
Orono, Maine
Andrei Alyokhin
Professor
University of Maine
Orono, Maine
Black soldier fly larvae (Hermetia illucens) have become a highly utilized feed additive in agriculture and aquaculture that have been shown to suppress numerous species of pathogenic gram-negative and gram-positive bacteria in their growth substrate. Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) is a human pathogen that has been subject to high levels of treatment with antibiotics such as ampicillin for over 80 years. Ecosystems have become contaminated with these antibiotic residues, rendering them even less effective in treating MRSA. Our findings revealed that substrates inhabited by black soldier fly larvae initially supported high MRSA levels on Day 2 after inoculation, but then MRSA counts significantly dropped on Day 4. Total bacterial abundance was suppressed by ampicillin applied alone on Day 2 of the experiment. No such affect was evident when ampicillin was applied together with the black soldier fly larvae, probably because the larvae greatly encouraged MRSA growth. As the experiment progressed, ampicillin no longer reduced total bacterial abundance. The larvae reared with ampicillin had increased growth, indicating suppression of competing bacteria. These insights will inform safe practices for integrating BSF into waste management and animal feed systems, ensuring public health protection and promoting sustainable agriculture.