Insects are gaining recognition as an alternative source of protein. Moreover, Protaetia brevitarsis was listed as a general food ingredient by Korean Ministry of Food and Drug Safety. As a result, rearing insects has been growing in Korea and domestic farms have begun mass rearing of insects. In order to produce high quality insects, studies on the development of safe and nutritious feed sources are needed. Given the cost of rearing insects, agricultural and industrial by-products are good sources for feed. The efficient utilization of the by-product can help in reducing the cost of production and preventing environmental pollution. In this study, soybean milk residue was investigated for its effects on developmental characteristics of P. brevitarsis until larvae pupated. With three different kinds of feed on the larvae of beetles, the larvae with 10% of soybean milk residue showed the best result for the larval survival rate and growth rate of this beetle. In addition, the feed with 10% soybean milk residue had significantly shorter than control feed (only fermented oak sawdust). However, 20% of soybean milk residue decreased larval weight and extended larval development period. Therefore, we concluded that soybean milk residue were used as a nutritional feed source to promote larval growth and produce quality insects.

대표적인 산업곤충에는 장수풍뎅이(Allomyrina dichotoma), 흰점박이꽃무지(Protaetia brevitarsis seulensis), 쌍별귀뚜 라미(Gryllus bimaculatus), 갈색거저리(Tenebrio molitor) 등이 있으며 식용, 약용, 학습애완용 등 다양한 용도로 이용되고 있다. 곤충 산업의 발달로 인한 산업곤충의 집단사육은 곤충을 시간적 제약 없이 대량으로 공급할 수 있다는 장점이 있다. 그러나 밀폐된 공간에서 대량사육은 질병 발생 시 집단 감염 확률이 높고 결국 농가의 소득감소로 이어진다. 산업곤충 유충에서 주로 발생하는 곰팡이병과 세균병, 바이러스병은 유충의 성장을 방해하며 유충이 죽을 때 까지 감염 여부를 알기 어렵다. 따라서 이 연구는 곤충 질병 발생 조기 진단방법 개발을 위한 기초자료를 제공하고자 수행되었다. 장수풍뎅이를 대상으로 질병 감염이 의심되는 유충과, 감염되지 않은 건강충의 장내 미생물 군집에 차이가 나타나는지 비교하였다. 병사충과 건강충의 장내 미생물 군집 구조 차이 구명을 통해 병원성 미생물 감염여부를 조기에 진단하고, 질병의 대량 발생을 예방 할 수 있을 것으로 기대한다.

Allomyrina dichotoma (order Coleoptera, family Scarabaeidae) is used for development of pharmaceuticals, pet or educational purposes and animal feedstuffs. The disease occurrence and distribution of Oryctes rhinoceros Nudivirus were investigated in Allomyrina dichotoma in Korea using PCR and analyzed the DNA seqeunces using BLAST(Basic Local Alignment Search Tool). The virus infected larvae were collected from 10 insect rearing farms in five different regions (Gyounggi, Chungbuk, Chungnam, Jeonnam, Daejeon). Frequency of OrNV virus infection appeared differently depending on the regions or rearing facilities (open field, vinyl house, indoor breeding system and etc.). The collected samples of Allomyrina dichotoma raised on open fields showed the highest possibilities of OrNV virus infection. The OrNV average infection rate of open fields rearing systems was 50.0%.

Mass breeding of Protaetia brevitarsis seluensis results in the entomopathogenic fungal infection, usually Metarhizium anisoplaie. A mixture of microorganisms (Bacillus subtilis, Lactobacillus plantarum, and Saccharomyces cerevisiae) delayed fungal infection by M. anisopliae, which infected fewer P. b. seluensis when the microorganism mixture was added to sawdust as feed for P. b. seluensis for 30d, their mortality rate was approximately 35% less than that of the control group, which was fed sawdust without the EM. In addition, the growth of M. anisopliae on agar media spread with each bacterium as inhibited by up to 80%.

Insects have been proposed as an alternative protein source that may contribute to global demands for food protein. As rising interest in edible insects, it is needed to develop the rearing techniques and nutritious feed sources for mass production. Diet mixing is believed to be advantageous for performance-related factors of edible insects such as survival and growth. In the current study, the effects of diet mixtures with wheat bran, dog feed, and pig feed were investigated on the growth performance of edible chafers, Protaetia brevitarsis and Allomyrina dichotoma. When fermented sawdust with adding 30% wheat bran was fed, larval survival rate and growth rate of both insects were significantly lower than those of the control. Fermented sawdust with high density of wheat bran was inappropriate for these insects. On the other hand, when fed with 2.5% dog feed and 2.5% pig feed, the survival rate and growth rate of the larvae were higher than those of the control. In addition, the larval period of both was shorter than that of the control by 40 days or more. Therefore, it was considered that animal feeds can be used as feed sources for those edible insects.

To synnema formation and entomopathogenic of Paecilomyces tenuipes using some of media under the blue LED lamp. Lyophilized matured silkworm hemolymph and Bombyx mori powder were used as nutrient source in cultivation of an entomopathogenic fungus, Paecilomyces tenuipes. Matured silkworm (MS, aged seventh days of fifth instars) was in whole lyophilized without any treatment. Hemolymph (HL) powder was prepared by water-soluble extraction from matured silkworms which was silk gland removed and also lyophilized, too. Both of media showed better growth rates and synnemata formations than potato dextrose (PD) medium, and B. mori was controlled under the blue LED lamp conditions. To investigate their effect on mycelial growth of P. tenuipes, each of them were provided as nutrient sources by final concentrations of 2, 3 and 4%, respectively. Total 18 test cultures were cultivated for 14 days with no light. Three PD cultures were used as control group. Each of growth areas was measured with an image analyzer. The result showed that MS and HL medium promoted mycelial growth of P. tenuipes by 287 and 310%, respectively, in comparison with PD medium. The synnema formation and its shape of Paecilomyces tenuipes using B. mori under the blue LED lamp group are not so good than normal conditions. But, how to change of a compositions are not yet. It will be investigation in the future.

In this study, matured silkworm hemolymph was studied for inhibitory effect on melanocyte formation, tyrosinase activities and antibacterial effect. A matured silkworm hemolymph mass purification method was developed and some of suppressing melanin formation effects were investigated, too. Antibacterial effects were tested by Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus, Staphylococcus epidermidis and Candida albicans. As a result, the advanced purification method was higher in yield rate than existing one by 53%. A free radical scavenging activity of hemolymph was higher than sericin on the market(IC50, 202.9±33.1) and lower than vitamin C(0.57±0.02) by 6.4±0.3 ㎍/㎖. An inhibitory effect on melanin synthesis was higher in hemolymph compared to morus bark and arbutin by 9.15% and 11.56%, respectively. The antibacterial effects on Escherichia, Staphylococcus were detected at 2% hemolymph concentration, which was relatively good. Thus, these results suggest that hemolymph of matured silkworm may have beneficial properties as a material for cosmetics.

We investigate the effects of the immune function (HI titer) in broilers fed diets containing Hermetia illucens (H. illucens) peptide extract over a 40-day period. Twenty-four broiler chicks (Arbor Acres, 1 d old) were divided into four groups and fed different diets (control, 0.1%, 0.5%, and 1% H. illucens peptide extract). To evaluate HI titer, all broilers were vaccinated with H9H2 vaccine subcutaneously on the lateral thorax, according to the manufacturer’s recommendations. Similar HI titer was observed with 1% H. illucens peptide extract treatment compared to the control after 40 days (p>0.01). Groups fed 0.5% H. illucens peptide extract demonstrated the most effective immune effects (p<0.01), followed by groups fed 0.1% H. illucens peptide extract. In conclusion, using 0.1% or 0.5% H. illucens peptide extract before or after vaccination improved HI titer immune function in broilers.

This study was conducted to evaluate the growth performance of broilers fed different levels of Hermetia illucens powder. A total of 400 broiler chicks (1-day old Arbor Acres) were fed commercial diets containing H. illucens powder at 0%, 0.1%, 0.5%, and 1% with four replicates (25 chicks per replicate), for 35 days. Weight gain in broilers fed diets containing different levels of H. illucens powder increased significantly at 28 and 35 days, compared with that of the control (p<0.05). However, feed intake and mortality showed no differences among the treatments as a function of time. At 21, 28, and 35 days, broilers fed different levels of H. illucens powder had lower feed conversion rates (p<0.05) than their counterparts fed the control diet. In conclusion, 0.5% H. illucens powder is the optimal level for improved weight gain and feed conversion.