Objective In order to study whether hybrids of the black soldier fly (Hermetia illucens L.) have growth advantages, the hybrid progeny of Wuhan strain and Bioforte strain and the difference of growth performance between Wuhan strain and Bioforte strain were studied.

Method Experimental strains F and F´ were obtained by cross and transverse cross between Wuhan strain and Bioforte strain, respectively. The growth performance, eclosion time and oviposition time of F and F´ were measured and compared with those of Wuhan strain and Bioforte strain.

Result The eclosion time of F strain and F´ strain was 30.3 d and 35.3 d, and the oviposition time was 36.6 d and 40.3 d, respectively. The eclosion and oviposition time of F strain were 5 d shorter than that of Wuhan strain, 9 d shorter than that of Bioforte strain, and the oviposition time of F´ strain was 1.4 d shorter than that of Wuhan strain. The eclosion time was 4 d shorter than that of Bioforte strain, and the oviposition time was 5.4 d shorter than that of Bioforte strain. In terms of feed utilization, the apparent digestibility of F strain, F´ strain, Wuhan strain and Bioforte strain were 59.53%, 59.25%, 58.05% and 58.10%, ingested feed conversion efficiency were 4.11%, 4.58%, 3.41% and 3.74%, and the feed-weight ratio were 8.58, 7.78, 10.5 and 9.05, respectively. Compared with Wuhan strain and Bioforte strain, the apparent digestibility of F strain was significantly higher, and the eclosion time and oviposition time were significantly lower. The digested feed conversion efficiency, apparent digestibility and ingested feed conversion efficiency of F´ strain were significantly higher than those of Wuhan strain and Bioforte strain, while the feed-weight ratio and protein content were significantly lower than those of Wuhan strain and Bioforte strain. There were no significant differences in the number of egg laid, quality of egg mass, or hatching rate among F strain, F´ strain and the Wuhan strain and Bioforte strain.

Conclusion F strain and F´ strain were superior to Wuhan strain and Bioforte strain in feed utilization, but the protein content was slightly lower than Wuhan strain and Bioforte strain; The number of egg laid, egg mass and hatching rate of F strain, F´ strain were well maintained at the level of Wuhan strain and Bioforte strain; F strain had an advantage in growth cycle, and its eclosion time and oviposition time were shorter than Wuhan strain and Bioforte strain.