There is a species of soldier fly that resides in the Northeastern United States that seems to depend upon manure for its reproductive life cycle. I'm no entomologist, and I cannot identify the particular species, or the nutritional content of its larvae.
A neighbor called me one day to alert me to the fact that his rabbit hutch was booming with maggots. I keep various critters that like to eat bugs, and I will sometimes collect maggots, freeze them to kill off parasites, and feed them to whoever is willing (it's a disgusting practice). Upon inspection of the floor below this hutch, it was in fact squirming with life. These were no normal maggots, though. They looked amazingly like Soldier fly larvae. I collected all that I could, froze most of them, and set up a jar with rabbit droppings in which to raise several to adulthood. Several weeks later, I had adult soldier flies in the jar. I've been able to raise two generations of soldier flies using fresh rabbit droppings. Due to the fact that rabbits commonly carry parasites (coccidia for one), I have not fed non-frozen larvae to my charges.
I am currently trying to work out an agreement with a local university to regularly pick up the droppings from the various rodentia which they house in their laboratory. These animals are kept in controlled laboratory conditions. I will only take droppings from young animals that are being raised for future research and have NEVER been given medications or any research treatments. An added bonus...they regularly test their animals for parasites.
Take this information lightly. I am no expert. Hopefully, those of you who wish to culture soldier fly larvae may find this information useful. It is only meant to help, not instruct.
