Employment of domestic fly larvae for utilizing organic wastes in human biological life-support systems
Golubeva, E.G.; Erofeeva, T.V.
Kosmicheskaia Biologiia i Aviakosmicheskaia Meditsina 15(6): 54-57
1981
ISSN/ISBN: 0321-5040 PMID: 6118464 Document Number: 171658
In investigations on methods of waste disposal in space craft, larvae of Musca domestica L. were grown in substrates of 3 types: natural human excrement, human excrement mineralised with bacteria and droppings of Japanese quail [Coturnix japonica]. Larval density was found to affect the average weight of pupae in all substrates. The total biomass of pupae and prepupae in all substrates initially increased with increasing larval density, then reached a peak and declined. The lowest peak was associated with the mineralised human excrement, while the peaks associated with the quail droppings and with untreated human excrement were twice and 9 times as high as with the mineralised excrement, respectively. The larval mortality rate and the adult emergence rate were not significantly correlated with larval density. The mass of the substrate diminished on average by 50-60% during larval development, and its moisture content and organic matter content also declined.