The DOI matches its Crossref record; 33 of the 33 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.
Digestibility of black soldier fly larvae (Hermetia illucens) fed to leopard geckos (Eublepharis macularius)
Open accessAbstract
Black soldier fly (BSF) larvae have been marketed as an excellent choice for providing calcium to reptiles without the need of dusting or gut loading. However, previous studies have indicated that they have limited calcium digestibility and are deficient in fat soluble vitamins (A, D3, and E). In this feeding and digestibility trial, 24 adult male leopard geckos were fed one of three diets for 4 months: 1) whole, vitamin A gut loaded larvae; 2) needle pierced, vitamin A gut loaded larvae; or 3) whole, non-gut loaded larvae. Fecal output from the geckos was collected daily and apparent digestibility was calculated for dry matter, protein, fat, and minerals. There were no differences in digestibility coefficients among groups. Most nutrients were well digested by the leopard geckos when compared to previous studies, with the exception of calcium (digestibility co-efficient 43%), as the calcium-rich exoskeleton usually remained intact after passage through the GI tract. Biochemistry profiles revealed possible deficits occurring over time for calcium, sodium, and total protein. In regards to vitamin A digestibility, plasma and liver vitamin A concentrations were significantly higher in the supplemented groups (plasma- gut loaded groups: 33.38 ± 7.11 ng/ml, control group: 25.8 ± 6.72 ng/ml, t = 1.906, p = 0.04; liver- gut loaded groups: 28.67 ± 18.90 μg/g, control group: 14.13 ± 7.41 μg/g, t = 1.951, p = 0.03). While leopard geckos are able to digest most of the nutrients provided by BSF larvae, including those that have been gut loaded, more research needs to be performed to assess whether or not they provide adequate calcium in their non-supplemented form.
Overview
The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.
Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.
Integrity signals
Registry
Cites
Statistics
Verification
Claims the paper makes
The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.
Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.
Self-check
Percentages, sums and reported differences re-computed from the paper’s own numbers.
The self-check needs the paper’s full text.
Citations
Cites
Spranghers, T., Ottoboni, M., Klootwijk, C., Ovyn, A., Deboosere, S., De Meulenaer, B., Michiels, J., Eeckhout, M., De Clercq, P., & De Smet, S. (2017) · Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture · doi:10.1002/jsfa.8081 · Cited by 970
Complete nutrient composition of commercially raised invertebrates used as food for insectivores
Finke, M. D. (2002) · Zoo Biology · doi:10.1002/zoo.10031 · Cited by 802
Nutrient Requirements of Laboratory Animals,
National Research Council (1995) · National Academies Press eBooks · doi:10.17226/4758 · Cited by 735
Vitamin A metabolism: An update
D’Ambrosio, D. N., Clugston, R. D., & Blaner, W. S. (2011) · Nutrients · doi:10.3390/nu3010063 · Cited by 562
Complete Nutrient Content of Four Species of Feeder Insects
Finke, M. D. (2012) · Zoo Biology · doi:10.1002/zoo.21012 · Cited by 499
Tschirner, M., & Simon, A. (2015) · Journal of Insects as Food and Feed · doi:10.3920/jiff2014.0008 · Cited by 426
Gut loading to enhance the nutrient content of insects as food for reptiles: A mathematical approach
Finke, M. D. (2003) · Zoo Biology · doi:10.1002/zoo.10082 · Cited by 132
Evidence of vitamin D synthesis in insects exposed to UVb light
Oonincx, D. G. A. B., van Keulen, P., Finke, M. D., Baines, F. M., Vermeulen, M., & Bosch, G. (2018) · Scientific Reports · doi:10.1038/s41598-018-29232-w · Cited by 94
Dierenfeld, E. S., & King, J. D. (2008) · Journal of Herpetological Medicine and Surgery · doi:10.5818/1529-9651.18.3-4.100 · Cited by 76
Retinol, α‐tocopherol and proximate nutrient composition of invertebrates used as feed
Pennino, M., Dierenfeld, E. S., & Behler, J. L. (1991) · International Zoo Yearbook · doi:10.1111/j.1748-1090.1991.tb03477.x · Cited by 75
Research works printed but not linked: 5
- Allen ME. Nutritional Aspects of Insectivory. PhD Dissertation, Michigan State University. 1989. Available from: https://d.lib.msu.edu/etd/16494
- KL Boykin, 2018, Feeding trial and health assessment of corn snakes (Pantherophis guttatus) fed an insect-based sausage diet, Proc ARAV, 975
- PP Calle, 1994, Health assessment of free-ranging anaconda (Eunectes murinus) in Venezuela, J Zoo Wild Med, 25, 53
- Ploog C, Clunston R, Morris C, Iske C, Blanner W, Pessier A. Hypovitaminosis A: influence of three diets or topical treatment on hepatic, adipose, and plasma retinoid concentrations and presence of squamous metaplasia in Mississippi gopher frogs (Rana capito servosa). In Bissell H, Brooks M Eds. Proceedings of the Eleventh Conference on Zoo and Wildlife Nutrition, AZA Nutrition Advisory Group, Portland,AZA NAG. 2015.
- EM Hume, 1949, Vitamin A requirement of human adults: an experimental study of vitamin A deprivation in man, Medical Research Council Special Report Series, 264
Cited by
Sorted by citations
Insects as food for insectivores
Finke, M. D., & Oonincx, D. G. A. B. (2022) · Elsevier eBooks · doi:10.1016/b978-0-12-822106-8.00019-1 · Cited by 77
The Variety of Applications of Hermetia illucens in Industrial and Agricultural Areas—Review
Kaczor, M., Bulak, P., Proc, K., Kirichenko-Babko, M., & Bieganowski, A. (2022) · Biology · doi:10.3390/biology12010025 · Cited by 65
Saputra, I., & Lee, Y. N. (2023) · Biodiversitas Journal of Biological Diversity · doi:10.13057/biodiv/d240930 · Cited by 24
El-Dakar, M. A., Ramzy, R. R., Wang, D., & Ji, H. (2021) · Waste Management · doi:10.1016/j.wasman.2021.01.040 · Cited by 22
Transgenic Black Soldier Flies For Production of Carotenoids
Gunther, D., Alford, R. T., Johnson, J., Neilsen, P. O., Zhang, L., Harrell, R. A., & Day, C. (2023) · Insect Biochemistry and Molecular Biology · doi:10.1016/j.ibmb.2024.104110 · Cited by 12
Metadata
- Authors
- Boykin, K. L., Carter, R. T., Butler-Perez, K., Buck, C. Q., Peters, J. W., Rockwell, K. E., & Mitchell, M. A.
- Affiliations
- Louisiana State University (US)
- Tuskegee University (US)
- Corresponding author
- Boykin, Kimberly L.
- Carter, Renee T.
- Butler-Perez, Karina
- Buck, Cameron Q.
- Peters, Jordan W.
- Rockwell, Kelly E.
- Mitchell, Mark A.
- Venue
- PLOS ONE
- Publisher
- Public Library of Science (PLoS)
- Published
- 2020-05-11
- Volume
- 15
- Issue
- 5
- Pages
- e0232496
- ISSN
- 1932-6203 (ISSN-L)
- PMC
- PMC7213736
- OpenAlex
- W3022113135
- Cited by
- 17
- References
- 33
- Citations by year
- 2025: 2 · 2024: 4 · 2023: 6 · 2022: 3 · 2021: 2
- FWCI
- 1.93
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- gold
- doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- PLoS ONE (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Civil War Book Review (submittedVersion)
- DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
- Funders
- Louisiana State University SVM Corp grant (8262)
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Agricultural and Biological Sciences › Insect Science › Insect Utilization and Effects
- Life Sciences › Agricultural and Biological Sciences › Aquatic Science › Aquaculture Nutrition and Growth
- Life Sciences › Agricultural and Biological Sciences › Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics › Amphibian and Reptile Biology
- Keywords
- black soldier fly larvae, Hermetia illucens, leopard gecko, Eublepharis macularius, reptile nutrition, calcium digestibility, vitamin A, apparent digestibility, exoskeleton, fecal output, plasma biochemistry
- MeSH terms
- Animals, Animal Feed, Animal Nutritional Physiological Phenomena, Calcium, Dietary, Diet, Digestion, Larva, Liver, Lizards, Male, Nutritive Value, Simuliidae, Vitamin A
About these checks
Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.
Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.
What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›
Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review
How to cite
Cite CoChat for the checks on this page, and the paper for its own findings.
- This page
- CoChat. (2026). Citation check: Digestibility of black soldier fly larvae (Hermetia illucens) fed to leopard geckos (Eublepharis macularius). https://app.cochat.ai/papers/10.1371/journal.pone.0232496
- The paper
- Boykin, K. L., Carter, R. T., Butler-Perez, K., Buck, C. Q., Peters, J. W., Rockwell, K. E., & Mitchell, M. A. (2020). Digestibility of black soldier fly larvae (Hermetia illucens) fed to leopard geckos (Eublepharis macularius). PLOS ONE. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0232496
