Comparative Study of the Use of Insect Meal from Spodoptera littoralis and Bactrocera zonata for Feeding Japanese Quail Chicks

With the increasing world population and rising meat consumption, sustainable high-quality feed is urgently needed. It was proposed that insects could be a promising alternative feed source, since they have high protein contents and can be reared sustainably on food production residues. Caterpillars of the African cotton leafworm Spodoptera littoralis can be cultivated on different residues of crops and vegetables and larvae of the peach fruit fly Bactrocera zonata can be reared on fruit and vegetable residues. In addition, mass rearing expertise of these two insect species already exists thanks to the sterile insect technique, a method of biological pest control. The nutrient composition of meals from these two insect species was determined and the impact of their meals as feed ingredients for Japanese quail chicks in comparison to soybean meal was investigated. In the feeding trials, 50% of the soybean protein was replaced with B. zonata meal and S. littoralis meal, respectively. For chicks fed with insect meal containing diets, improved growth, feed performance parameters, carcass characteristics and biochemical indices were observed in comparison to a soybean meal-based diet. Consequently, both insect meals represent a promising alternative to soy in the feed of Japanese quail chicks