Since the late 20th century, H. illucens has increasingly been gaining attention because of its usefulness for recycling organic waste and generating animal feed.

[10] It is present in parts of North America and Europe, including the Iberian Peninsula, southern France, Italy, Croatia, Malta, the Canary Islands, and Switzerland, and on the Black Sea coast of Russia in Krasnodar .

[14] These medium-sized flies have a predominantly black body, with metallic reflections ranging from blue to green on the thorax and sometimes with a reddish end of the abdomen.

[15] H. illucens is a mimic fly, very close in size, color, and appearance to the organ pipe mud dauber wasp and its relatives.

[16] These eggs are typically deposited in crevices or on surfaces above or adjacent to decaying matter such as manure or compost, and hatch in about 4 days.

Black soldier fly larvae play a role similar to that of redworms as essential decomposers in breaking down organic substrates and returning nutrients to the soil.

The larvae have voracious appetites and can be used for composting household food scraps and agricultural waste products.

Additionally, black soldier fly larvae are an alternative source of protein for aquaculture, animal feed, and pet food.

[30] When the larvae have completed their larval development through six instars,[31] they enter a stage called the "prepupa" wherein they cease to eat, and tend to migrate toward cool, dark, and dry substrates to pupate.

Fly larval frass is a granulated and odorless residue that can be used as organic fertilizer directly[38] or through conversion by earthworms.

[44] It is a multi-chambered plastic machine that looks like a kitchen appliance and can produce 500 grams (1.1 lb) of larvae or two meals in a week.

[52] BSFL frass is commonly applied by direct mixing with soil and considered a long-term fertilizer with slow nutrient release.

[55][56] Debate is going on whether the frass from BSFL rearing can be used as a fertilizer in a fresh state or has to undergo further composting before its application.

[57] In the European Union, insect frass has to be treated for one hour at 70 °C (158 °F) before commercialization for safety reasons, the same as other animal manure products.

[58] Recent research in the field of entomoremediation shows the potential of this insect for purification of biomass contaminated with heavy metals.

[59] Larvae of H. illucens were used in a bioremediation experiment, in which they consumed up to 49% of dry weight corn leaves polluted with cadmium or zinc, for 36 days.

Black soldier fly larvae are quite hardy and can handle more acidic conditions and higher temperatures than redworms.

Many small-scale BSFL farmers start their larval colonies from eggs deposited by wild soldier flies.

[66] In particular, mating success of reared black soldier fly can be dramatically increased by exposing the adults to light that is particularly rich in wavelengths near 440 and/or 540 nm and has an irradiance that is an appreciable fraction of the intensity of full sunlight.

Redworms can live in grub bins when a large number of black soldier fly larvae are not present.

Other companies also market BSFL under such brand names as NutriGrubs, Soldier Grubs, Reptiworms, Calciworms, BIOgrubs, and Obie's Worms (Canada).

In West Africa, Dirhinus giffardii has been found to be a parasitoid of H. illucens pupae and can decrease egg production, reducing stocks by up to 72%.