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4 July 2024 Harvesting insect pests for animal feed: potential to capture an unexploited resource
Lee W. Cohnstaedt, Paula Lado, Robert Ewing, Jason Cherico, Daniel Brabec, Phillip Shults, Komala Arsi, Ann M. Donoghue, Roy Wagner, Alexandra Chaskopoulou
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Abstract

The demand for animal protein grows as the human population increases. Technological and genetic advances in traditional animal agriculture will not produce enough protein to meet future needs without significant innovations such as the use of insects as protein sources. Insect farming is growing insects, whereas insect harvesting is collecting insects from their natural habitats to produce high-quality protein for animal feed or human food. Intensive agricultural environments produce tremendous quantities of pestiferous insects and with the right harvest technologies these insects can be used as a protein supplement in traditional animal daily rations. An avenue to exploit these insects is to use traps such as the United States Department of Agriculture-Biomass Harvest Trap (USDA-BHT) to efficiently attract, harvest, and store insects from naturally abundant agricultural settings. The modular design allows for a low cost, easy to build and fix device that is user friendly and has customizable attractants to target various pest species. Although insect harvesting faces substantial challenges, including insect biomass quantity, seasonal abundance and preservation, food safety, and economic and nutritional evaluation, the potential for utilizing these pests for protein shows tremendous promise. In this forum, insect harvesting is discussed, including its potential, limitations, challenges, and research needs. In addition, the use of a mass trapping device is discussed as a tool to increase the biomass of insects collected from the environment.

Lee W. Cohnstaedt, Paula Lado, Robert Ewing, Jason Cherico, Daniel Brabec, Phillip Shults, Komala Arsi, Ann M. Donoghue, Roy Wagner, and Alexandra Chaskopoulou "Harvesting insect pests for animal feed: potential to capture an unexploited resource," Journal of Economic Entomology 117(4), 1301-1305, (4 July 2024). https://doi.org/10.1093/jee/toae131
Received: 18 March 2024; Accepted: 3 June 2024; Published: 4 July 2024
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KEYWORDS
harvesting
insect biomass
insect protein
insect trap
sustainable Agriculture
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