Insects have been on the menu of humans for centuries, but only recently we have begun to mass produce them for human food and animal feed. This introduction first paints a synopsis of mass cultured insects and their application. The new insect production industry raises many interesting fundamental and applied questions about insect biology and fitness. The second part of the introduction to this special issue addresses the 13 articles dealing with the improvement of mass‐rearing efforts for a range of insects. The various studies focus on the effects of diet and microorganisms on relevant life‐history traits and economic value of the insects. They reflect the current rapid developments in the insect production industry.

中文翻译：

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生产中的昆虫——介绍

几个世纪以来，昆虫一直在人类的菜单上，但直到最近，我们才开始大规模生产昆虫作为人类食物和动物饲料。本介绍首先概述了大规模养殖的昆虫及其应用。新的昆虫生产行业提出了许多关于昆虫生物学和适应性的有趣的基础和应用问题。本期特刊引言的第二部分介绍了 13 篇关于改进一系列昆虫的大规模饲养工作的文章。各种研究集中在饮食和微生物对昆虫相关生活史特征和经济价值的影响上。它们反映了当前昆虫生产行业的快速发展。