CONTINUOUS PRODUCTION SYSTEM FOR CULTURING DIPTERAN INSECTS

• US 20170202191A1
• Filed: 07/13/2015
• Published: 07/20/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 07/21/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Avrio Subordinated DEBT Limited Partnership III
• Original Assignee: Enterra Feed Corporation
• Inventors: MARCHANT, Brad, VICKERSON, Andrew, KAULFUSS, Oliver, RADLEY, Reed
• Granted Patent: US 10,159,229 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• CPC Class Codes: A01K 2227/706 Insects, e.g. Drosophila melanogaster, medfly
• CPC Class Codes: A01K 67/033 Rearing or breeding invertebrates; New breeds of invertebrates
• CPC Class Codes: F21V 7/22 characterised by materials, surface treatments or coatings, e.g. dichroic reflectors
• CPC Class Codes: F21Y 2113/00 Combination of light sources

Abstract

Methods and apparatus are provided for culturing Dipteran insects, particularly Hermetia illucens. The apparatus include a mating chamber that contains adult insects, and adaptations for the scheduled and/or metered introduction of inputs, such as: empty egg laying substrate, prepupae, bedding, carbohydrate (sugar) and/or water); and, the scheduled and/or metered collection of outputs, such as: egg laying substrate containing eggs, exuvia and bedding, and/or dead adults. The systems may also include adaptations to optimize the use of space, including the use of controlled environmental conditions within a confined space.

Claims

1. A continuous system for culturing dipteran insects, comprising:

a mating chamber and a bioconversion unit, wherein the mating chamber is adapted to house male and female adult insects that mate to produce insect eggs that are transferred from the mating chamber to the bioconversion unit for rearing, and the bioconversion unit is adapted to rear insect larvae to produce matured larvae that are transferred to the mating chamber to eclose to produce adult insects;

the mating chamber comprising;

an enclosure for containing the adult insects, adapted to permit air circulation into and out of the enclosure and to admit external illumination into the enclosure, the enclosure having an entry port and an exit port for an oviposition chamber, and an entry port and an exit port for a prepupae chamber;

an oviposition chamber support housed within the enclosure, adapted to convey an egg laying substrate in the oviposition chamber from the oviposition chamber entry port to the oviposition chamber exit port;

a prepupae chamber support housed within the enclosure, adapted to convey the prepupae chamber from the prepupae chamber entry port to the prepupae chamber exit port;

a mort collection system disposed along the base of the mating chamber, adapted to convey dead insects out of the mating chamber through a mort exit port in the enclosure; and

,

a mechanism for sequentially passing oviposition chambers through the enclosure along the oviposition chamber support during a metered ovipositioning period;

a mechanism for sequentially passing prepupae chambers through the screened enclosure along the prepupae chamber support during a metered prepupae maturation period, wherein the prepupae maturation period is longer than the ovipositioning period;

the bioconversion unit comprising;

a plurality of segregated larval compartments each adapted to house insect larvae and growth media; and

,

a mechanism for sequentially feeding metered growth media to the larvae in a selected larval compartment;

wherein eggs produced in the mating chamber on the egg-laying substrate are seeded in a neonate larval compartment of the bioconversion unit by transferring the egg-laying substrate to the neonate larval compartment and providing a neonate food source in the neonate larval compartment accessible to neonate insect larvae, wherein an approximated collection of eggs are seeded in the neonate compartment, allowed to hatch and migrate away from the egg-laying substrate, to mature on the neonate food source to produce matured neonate larvae, leaving barren egg laying substrates;

wherein barren egg-laying substrates are sequentially separated from matured neonate larvae and neonate larval compartments, and returned to oviposition chambers in the mating chamber, and matured neonate larvae are then sequentially fed with metered growth media in larval compartments of the bioconversion unit, to produce matured larvae, and metered populations of matured larvae are then sequentially transferred to the prepupae chambers in the mating chamber to eclose to produce the adult insects.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the mating chamber and bioconversion unit are housed in a climate-controlled enclosure.

3. The system of claim 2, wherein the climate controlled enclosure admits sunlight, and the mating chamber is positioned within the climate-controlled enclosure so that sunlight reaches the adult insects within the mating chamber.

4. The system of claim 2 or 3, wherein the temperature in the climate-controlled chamber is maintained between about 25°

C. and about 35°

C.

5. The system of any one of claims 2 to 4, wherein the humidity within the climate-controlled chamber is maintained between about 65% and about 75% relative humidity.

6. The system of any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein matured larvae are segregated and harvested from the bioconversion unit to produce a feedstock.

7. The system of claim 6, wherein the feedstock comprises separate meal fractions having distinct protein and lipid components.

8. The system of any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein frass produced by maturing larvae in the bioconversion unit is segregated and harvested from the bioconversion unit.

9. The system of any one of claims 1 to 8, wherein the prepupae maturation period is at least 20 days.

10. The system of any one of claims 1 to 9, wherein the wherein the prepupae maturation period is less than 30 days.

11. The system of any one of claims 1 to 10, wherein the ovipositioning period is at least 1 day.

12. The system of any one of claims 1 to 11, wherein the ovipositioning period is less than 3 days.

13. The system of any one of claims 1 to 12, wherein the mating chamber comprises a feeding mechanism for introducing adult fly food into the chamber.

14. The system of claim 13, wherein the feeding mechanism comprises adult feed containers adapted to travel along the oviposition chamber support or the prepupae chamber support.

15. The system of claim 13 or 14, wherein the adult fly food comprises solid sugar.

16. The system of any one of claims 1 to 15, further comprising a light source positioned to illuminate the enclosure.

17. The system of claim 16, wherein the light source provides visible light and ultraviolet light.

18. The system of claim 17, wherein the light source comprises a quartz-iodine lamp that provides the visible light and a halogen lamp that provides the ultraviolet light.

19. The system of any one of claims 16 to 18, wherein the prepupae chambers are positioned between the light source and the ovipositioning chambers in the mating chamber, so that the prepupae chambers shade the ovipositioning chambers from the light source.

20. The system of any one of claims 1 to 19, wherein the neonate food source comprises a combination of brewery grains and wheat bran.

21. The system of claim 20, wherein the neonate food source comprises from 80% to 95% brewery grains and from 5% to 20% wheat bran.

22. The system of any one of claims 1 to 21, wherein the dipteran insects comprise Hermetia illucens.

23. A mating chamber for culturing dipteran insects, comprising:

an enclosure for containing adult insects, adapted to permit air circulation into and out of the enclosure and to admit external illumination into the enclosure, the enclosure having an entry port and an exit port for an oviposition chamber, and an entry port and an exit port for a prepupae chamber;

an oviposition chamber support housed within the enclosure, adapted to convey an egg laying substrate in the oviposition chamber from the oviposition chamber entry port to the oviposition chamber exit port;

a prepupae chamber support housed within the enclosure, adapted to convey the prepupae chamber from the prepupae chamber entry port to the prepupae chamber exit port;

a mort collection system disposed along the base of the mating chamber, adapted to convey dead insects out of the mating chamber through a mort exit port in the enclosure; and

,

a mechanism for sequentially passing oviposition chambers through the enclosure along the oviposition chamber support during a metered ovipositioning period;

a mechanism for sequentially passing prepupae chambers through the screened enclosure along the prepupae chamber support during a metered prepupae maturation period, wherein the prepupae maturation period is longer than the ovipositioning period.

24. The mating chamber of claim 23, wherein the mating chamber is housed in a climate-controlled enclosure.

25. The mating chamber of claim 24, wherein the climate controlled enclosure admits sunlight, and the mating chamber is positioned within the climate-controlled enclosure so that sunlight reaches the adult insects within the mating chamber.

26. The mating chamber of claim 24 or 25, wherein the temperature in the climate-controlled chamber is maintained between about 25°

C. and about 35°

C.

27. The mating chamber of any one of claims 24 to 26, wherein the humidity within the climate-controlled chamber is maintained between about 65% and about 75% relative humidity.

28. The mating chamber of any one of claims 23 to 27, wherein the wherein the prepupae maturation period is at least 20 days.

29. The mating chamber of any one of claims 23 to 28, wherein the wherein the prepupae maturation period is less than 30 days.

30. The mating chamber of any one of claims 23 to 29, wherein the ovipositioning period is at least 1 day.

31. The mating chamber of any one of claims 23 to 30, wherein the ovipositioning period is less than 3 days.

32. The mating chamber of any one of claims 23 to 31, wherein the mating chamber further comprises a feeding mechanism for introducing adult fly food into the chamber.

33. The mating chamber of claim 32, wherein the feeding mechanism comprises adult feed containers adapted to travel along the oviposition chamber support or the prepupae chamber support.

34. The mating chamber of claim 32 or 33, wherein the adult fly food comprises solid sugar.

35. The mating chamber of any one of claims 23 to 34, further comprising a light source positioned to illuminate the enclosure.

36. The mating chamber of claim 35, wherein the light source provides visible light and ultraviolet light.

37. The mating chamber of claim 36, wherein the light source comprises a quartz-iodine lamp that provides the visible light and a halogen lamp that provides the ultraviolet light.

38. The mating chamber of any one of claims 35 to 37, wherein the prepupae chambers are positioned between the light source and the ovipositioning chambers in the mating chamber, so that the prepupae chambers shade the ovipositioning chambers from the light source.

39. The mating chamber of any one of claims 23 to 38, wherein the dipteran insects comprise Hermetia illucens.

40. The mating chamber of any one of claims 23 to 38, wherein the dipteran insects consist of a homogeneous culture of Hermetia illucens.