Consecutive mating of black soldier fly males to produce full- and half-sibling offspring

Kim Jensen; Sarah Thormose; Natasja Krog  Noer; Toke Munk  Schou; Morten  Kargo; Anton Gligorescu; Jan Værum Nørgaard; Roos Marina Zaalberg; Hanne Marie Nielsen; Torsten N.  Kristensen

Consecutive mating of black soldier fly males to produce full- and half-sibling offspring

Kim Jensen, Sarah Thormose, Natasja Krog Noer, Toke Munk Schou, Morten Kargo, Anton Gligorescu, Jan Værum Nørgaard, Roos Marina Zaalberg, Hanne Marie Nielsen, Torsten N. Kristensen

Research output: Contribution to conference › Conference abstract for conference › Research

Abstract

In animal breeding programs, utilizing quantitative genetic designs such as full/half sibling design is fundamental. This however demands that mating can be controlled, including having individual males mating with several females. In the literature, black soldier fly (BSF) males and females are reported to have to gather in lekking groups to engage in competitive displays and courtship rituals before they will mate. This lekking behavior is described as crucial for establishing suitable mating conditions, and mating of BSF pairs or individual sires is therefore assumed impossible. We show that an individual virgin male can be successfully mated with an individual virgin female. Furthermore, we show that an individual male can mate several virgin females, in our experiment up to four, consecutively within up to four hours and produce eggs and offspring with each mated female. Our findings pave the way for moving beyond mass selection to now include pedigree information in BSF breeding. This has the potential to allow selection for multiple traits simultaneously, control inbreeding, and increase rates of selection responses compared to phenotypically based mass selection.

Original language	English
Publication date	2024
Publication status	Published - 2024
Event	EAAP Florence, Italy - Duration: 1 Sept 2024 → 5 Sept 2024

Conference

Conference	EAAP Florence, Italy
Period	01/09/2024 → 05/09/2024

Cite this

@conference{e6dfc7f21bbf4a718f459fbf452585b0,

title = "Consecutive mating of black soldier fly males to produce full- and half-sibling offspring",

abstract = "In animal breeding programs, utilizing quantitative genetic designs such as full/half sibling design is fundamental. This however demands that mating can be controlled, including having individual males mating with several females. In the literature, black soldier fly (BSF) males and females are reported to have to gather in lekking groups to engage in competitive displays and courtship rituals before they will mate. This lekking behavior is described as crucial for establishing suitable mating conditions, and mating of BSF pairs or individual sires is therefore assumed impossible. We show that an individual virgin male can be successfully mated with an individual virgin female. Furthermore, we show that an individual male can mate several virgin females, in our experiment up to four, consecutively within up to four hours and produce eggs and offspring with each mated female. Our findings pave the way for moving beyond mass selection to now include pedigree information in BSF breeding. This has the potential to allow selection for multiple traits simultaneously, control inbreeding, and increase rates of selection responses compared to phenotypically based mass selection. ",

author = "Kim Jensen and Sarah Thormose and Noer, {Natasja Krog} and Schou, {Toke Munk} and Morten Kargo and Anton Gligorescu and N{\o}rgaard, {Jan V{\ae}rum} and Zaalberg, {Roos Marina} and Nielsen, {Hanne Marie} and Kristensen, {Torsten N.}",

year = "2024",

language = "English",

note = "EAAP Florence, Italy ; Conference date: 01-09-2024 Through 05-09-2024",

}

TY - ABST

T1 - Consecutive mating of black soldier fly males to produce full- and half-sibling offspring

AU - Jensen, Kim

AU - Thormose, Sarah

AU - Noer, Natasja Krog

AU - Schou, Toke Munk

AU - Kargo, Morten

AU - Gligorescu, Anton

AU - Nørgaard, Jan Værum

AU - Zaalberg, Roos Marina

AU - Nielsen, Hanne Marie

AU - Kristensen, Torsten N.

PY - 2024

Y1 - 2024

N2 - In animal breeding programs, utilizing quantitative genetic designs such as full/half sibling design is fundamental. This however demands that mating can be controlled, including having individual males mating with several females. In the literature, black soldier fly (BSF) males and females are reported to have to gather in lekking groups to engage in competitive displays and courtship rituals before they will mate. This lekking behavior is described as crucial for establishing suitable mating conditions, and mating of BSF pairs or individual sires is therefore assumed impossible. We show that an individual virgin male can be successfully mated with an individual virgin female. Furthermore, we show that an individual male can mate several virgin females, in our experiment up to four, consecutively within up to four hours and produce eggs and offspring with each mated female. Our findings pave the way for moving beyond mass selection to now include pedigree information in BSF breeding. This has the potential to allow selection for multiple traits simultaneously, control inbreeding, and increase rates of selection responses compared to phenotypically based mass selection.

AB - In animal breeding programs, utilizing quantitative genetic designs such as full/half sibling design is fundamental. This however demands that mating can be controlled, including having individual males mating with several females. In the literature, black soldier fly (BSF) males and females are reported to have to gather in lekking groups to engage in competitive displays and courtship rituals before they will mate. This lekking behavior is described as crucial for establishing suitable mating conditions, and mating of BSF pairs or individual sires is therefore assumed impossible. We show that an individual virgin male can be successfully mated with an individual virgin female. Furthermore, we show that an individual male can mate several virgin females, in our experiment up to four, consecutively within up to four hours and produce eggs and offspring with each mated female. Our findings pave the way for moving beyond mass selection to now include pedigree information in BSF breeding. This has the potential to allow selection for multiple traits simultaneously, control inbreeding, and increase rates of selection responses compared to phenotypically based mass selection.

M3 - Conference abstract for conference

T2 - EAAP Florence, Italy

Y2 - 1 September 2024 through 5 September 2024

ER -