Development: Mealworm becomes Beetle

Mealworm Ontogeny

Mealworms are popular live food in terraristics. They are easy to keep and breed, they reproduce fast without much care.

If you once have bought mealworms as food for your spiders, lizards or other pets, you probably have noticed that they pupate and become beetles after some time.

The following video gives a short overview of the different developmental stages, from a young larva to the adult imago.

The different developmental stages in a short video

The breeding is really easily, a mealworm-box does not take up much space, does not smell, and does not require much care.

Some general information on mealworms and mealworm beetles:

"Mealworms are the larval form of the mealworm beetle, Tenebrio molitor, a species of darkling beetle. Like all holometabolic insects, they go through four life stages: egg, larva, pupa, and adult. Larvae typically measure about 2.5 cm or more, whereas adults are generally between 1.25 and 1.8 cm in length."[1]

Reproduction:

"The mealworm beetle breeds prolifically. Mating is a three step process, the male chasing the female, mounting her and inserting hisaedeagus, and injecting a sperm packet. Within a few days the female burrows into soft ground and lays about 500 eggs.

After four to 19 days the eggs hatch. Many predators target the eggs, including reptiles.

During the larval stage, the mealworm feeds on vegetation and dead insects and periodically molts. A molting episode occurs between each larval stage, or instar. The larva of this species has 9 to 20 instars. After the final one it becomes a pupa. The new pupa is whitish, and it turns brown over time. After 3 to 30 days, depending on environmental conditions such as temperature, it emerges as an adult beetle."[1]

Mealworms as food:

"Mealworms are typically used as a pet food for captive reptiles, fish, and birds. They are also provided to wild birds in bird feeders, particularly during the nesting season. Mealworms are useful for their high protein content. They are also used as fishing bait.

They are commercially available in bulk and are sold in containers of bran or oatmeal. Commercial growers incorporate a juvenile hormoneinto the feeding process to keep the mealworm in the larval stage and achieve an abnormal length of 2 cm or greater."[1]

[1] Wikipedia Page: Mealworm. (2014, August 12). In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 15:49, October 21, 2014, from http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Mealworm&oldid=620882003