The larvae are synanthropic, utilizing mans waste heaps like the house fly. But the adult soldier flies live their short lives remote from man, maturing and mating in wooded areas. In these situations soldier fly larvae were present by the millions, but adults were often hard to find. Usually, only a few ovipositing females were present. These unmanaged populations eliminated house fly breeding and reduced manure residue, but feedstuff harvest was never attempted.
Manure is the principal food of many insects in nature, especially larval flies.
This insect utilization contributes to natural recycling of nutrients and the insects produced are food for many larger animals. These systems required separate facilities and sophisticated separation equipment. Production results were good in many cases, but expensive to operate. No separate facility or special equipment is needed for production or harvest. This migration of prepupae occurs because they need to leave the mass of larvae to successfully pupate to an adult.