The attention for black soldier fly larvae (BSFL) as an alternative ingredient for food and feed products is on the rise. While many studies have reported the efficiency of BSFL to bio‐convert a wide range of organic waste streams into larval biomass, so far, it is unknown whether BSFL prefer certain waste streams over others when they have the possibility to choose. Here, we performed a choice‐test experiment to explore the preference of BSFL when exposed to pig manure and a mass‐rearing diet consisting of plant by‐products currently used for industrial BSFL production. We found that after 1 hr of exposure to both feeds, BSFL strongly preferred pig manure over the mass‐rearing diet. The preference for manure became stronger as larval age increased. Our results provide the first evidence that BSFL express a distinct diet preference. Understanding the reasons for the strong preference for manure is relevant for a diverse array of practical applications and to inform the discussion on insect welfare.

中文翻译：

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与大规模饲养饮食相比，黑水虻幼虫对粪便的偏好更强

黑水虻幼虫 (BSFL) 作为食品和饲料产品的替代成分受到越来越多的关注。虽然许多研究报告了 BSFL 将各种有机废物流生物转化为幼虫生物量的效率，但到目前为止，尚不清楚 BSFL 在有可能选择时是否更喜欢某些废物流。在这里，我们进行了一个选择测试实验，以探索当暴露于猪粪和由目前用于工业 BSFL 生产的植物副产品组成的大规模饲养饮食时 BSFL 的偏好。我们发现，在接触两种饲料 1 小时后，BSFL 强烈偏爱猪粪而不是大量饲养的饮食。随着幼虫年龄的增加，对粪便的偏好变得更强。我们的结果提供了第一个证据，表明 BSFL 表达了独特的饮食偏好。