It's a Wasp against a Fly
One of the many advantages of farming black soldier fly larvae is that, so far, they appear to have relatively few natural enemies. This is different, for example, from crickets, which are prone to be wiped out by viral diseases. Such a situation is not surprising because black soldier flies are adapted to living in a generally rather inhospitable environment. Still, they are being attacked by several other species, the list of which is likely to grow as black soldier fly industry continues to expand. Recent article described several species of parasitic wasps that develop on black soldier flies in India.
Binoy, C., Delvare, G., Colombo, W.D., Surva, K. and Sureshan, P., 2023. Hymenopteran parasitoids of Black Soldier Fly Hermetia illucens (L.)(Diptera: Stratiomyidae) in chicken farms with two new species from India. Journal of Asia-Pacific Entomology, p.102140. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aspen.2023.102140
Hymenopteran parasitoids of the black soldier fly (BSF) Hermetia illucens (Linnaeus, 1758) (Diptera, Stratiomyidae), are recorded from southern India. Two new species, Calyoza hermetiae Binoy, & Colombo sp. nov. (Bethylidae, Epyrinae) and Eniacomorpha bouceki Binoy sp. nov. (Chalcididae, Dirhininae) are described and illustrated. Spalangia cameroni Perkins, S. obscura Bouček and S. simplex Perkins (Spalangiidae, Spalangiinae) and Dirhinus anthracia Walker (Chalcididae, Dirhininae) are also reported from BSF and are diagnosed and illustrated. A key to the hymenopteran parasitoids of BSF respectively belonging to Bethylidae (1 sp.), Chalcididae (4 spp.), Diapriidae (1 sp.), Spalangiidae (3 spp.), is provided. This study forms the first record of a host for Calyoza. Finally, the negative impact of these parasitoid assemblages on BSL is discussed.