Sub-Title: Insects as food for humans: the role of insect rearing Part I The prospects of using insects as human food to meet future needs of a growing world population has become a topic of lively discussion. For example, van Huis (2013) and van Huis et al. (2013) provide arguments about the benefits of what…
Insect rearing is a process. The desired outcomes in rearing are to have insects that are healthy, representative of their species, readily available, useful for various programs (research, crop protection, conservation, as food for other organisms, etc.) Being a process, insect rearing can be made more useful by application of process control, specifically statistical process…
All processes, regardless of their purpose, are subject to variability or error. Insect rearing, as a process, is subject to variability, and that variability is often the basis to failures in our systems. We will cover in other blog posts and discussions on this site more of the details of the importance of variability (error)…
The power of wheat germ as a diet component: a revolutionary breakthrough! There is no way to express the magnitude of influence that the introduction of wheat germ has had in the science of entomology and in related disciplines. There have been huge scientific, economic, ecological, and social impacts from this remarkable innovation since its…
An ideal course for people new to insect rearing or with limited experience. This course is available as a NOT FOR CREDIT introduction to rearing, including the biological aspects and physical aspects of rearing systems. You learn at your own pace, and you have access to the instructor, Dr. Allen Carson Cohen. You get feedback…
Represented in the photograph are three samples of Vanderzant vitamins, A and B obtained from a different supplier, C being from the same batch as B but having been stored at room conditions for two weeks. In neither product was the reference cited as to which mixture was being used, but the most widely used…
Comments about salt or mineral mixtures in insect diets (Beck salts, Wesson salts) Rearing personnel use in their diets components that are specified in the literature, and quite often we use materials that have authors’ names associated with them (such as Wesson salts, Beck salts, Vanderzant vitamins, etc.) I have been working on a diet…
Hello people in the insect rearing community. This is Allen Carson Cohen (aka, Allen C Cohen or Allen C. Cohen) announcing the new website and blog about insect rearing. Please come to this site to find out more about what we are doing to enhance insect rearing as a science and technology. We do education…
Is Insect Rearing an Art or a Science? One of the most important functions of this website and of the Insect Rearing Education and Research Program at NCSU is to help rearing specialists realize that good insect rearing practices are based on sound science practices. We emphasize throughout our education and research efforts that understanding…