The massive scale of invasive (e.g., non-native) Lymantria dispar dispar (spongy moth) outbreaks represents an unappreciated wild animal welfare issue.

Approximately 200-300 billion black soldier flies are farmed annually. In a new post, academic collaborator Meghan Barrett (Ph.D. Entomology) summarizes and provides additional context related to her and her colleagues’ academic article on “Welfare considerations for farming black soldier flies, Hermetia illucens (Diptera: Stratiomyidae): a model for the insects as food and feed industry.”

Billions of black soldier flies (BSFs) are farmed annually. This post summarizes research into the brain cell counts of BSFs, which may help us to assess the likelihood that they are sentient. The research described in this post was the first to use the isotropic fractionation technique to count an insect’s brain cells across developmental stages and the first to describe the nervous system of a popular, farmed invertebrate.