Why BSFL Are Sold as Phoenix Worms, Calciworms, and Six Other Names

Search for black soldier fly larvae and you will find them sold as phoenix worms, calciworms, NutriGrubs, soldier grubs, reptiworms and more. This causes real confusion about whether these are different animals.

They are not. Every one of them is Hermetia illucens — the larval stage of the black soldier fly.

Why So Many Names

Two reasons.

Branding. Several of these are registered trade names belonging to particular producers. A producer cannot trademark "black soldier fly larvae," so they trademark something else.

The real name is bad marketing. "Black soldier fly larvae" tells a customer they are buying fly maggots. "Calciworms" tells them they are buying calcium. Same animal, very different first impression.

What Actually Differs

Between brands, less than the packaging suggests. Between products, three things genuinely vary and are worth checking:

• Size grade. Small, medium and large are real distinctions that matter enormously for matching feeder to animal — and small BSFL are much softer.
• Live or dried. A real difference in use, moisture and feeding response. See live vs dried.
• Substrate. Rarely advertised and the most consequential of the three, because it shapes the larva's nutrition.

What to Do With This

Buy on size, form and freshness. Do not pay a premium purely for a trade name. If two products are the same species at the same size grade in the same form, the branding is not a nutritional difference.

See also phoenix worms vs calciworms vs BSFL.