Hermetia Illucens - Life Cycle

Life Cycle

Black soldier fly eggs take approximately four days to hatch and are typically deposited in crevices or on surfaces above or adjacent to decaying matter such as manure or compost. The larvae range in size from 1⁄₈–3⁄₄ inch (3–19 mm). Although they can be stored at room temperature for several weeks, their longest shelf life is achieved at 50–60 °F (10–16 °C).

The adult fly, which measures about 16 mm (5/8 inch), is a mimic, very close in size, color, and appearance to the organ pipe mud dauber wasp and its relatives. The mimicry of this particular kind of wasp is especially enhanced in that the fly's antennae are elongated and wasp-like, the fly's hind tarsi are pale, as are the wasp's, and the fly has two small transparent "windows" in the basal abdominal segments that make the fly appear to have a narrow "wasp waist". The adult soldier fly has no functioning mouthparts; it spends its time searching for mates and reproducing. The adult's life span is 5 to 8 days.