Black soldier fly sentience and welfare
Understanding the welfare of insects that may soon be farmed on a huge scale
This profile is tailored towards students studying biological sciences and philosophy, however we expect there to be valuable open research questions that could be pursued by students in other disciplines.
Why is this a pressing problem?
The black soldier fly (Hermetia illucens) is projected to become one of the most farmed insect species in the coming decades, with trillions of larvae projected to be raised for slaughter each year. Yet little is known about the capacities of these animals for sentience or suffering. If more information about the black soldier fly’s behavior, physiology, and neurobiology indicates suffering under farmed conditions or in the process of slaughter, that information may make it possible to influence farmed welfare regulations and discover and promote methods of humane rearing and slaughter.
See the talk below for researcher Stijn Bruers’s introduction to indications of insect sentience.
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Contributors:
