Breeding Mealworms

Mealworms


If you wish to purchase and store mealworms, they can be kept in the fridge for several weeks (be sure to provide ventilation holes in the storage container). When kept cooler they will not grow quickly and will be quite lethargic. Otherwise, your mealworms can be kept at a range of temperatures between 75 and 80F (room temperature is often sufficient).

They are the larval stage of a beetle. Mealworms have four life stages:

1. Egg (about 1/20th of an inch in size)

2. Larva (this is the worm used as your food source)

3. Pupa (looks like an alien out of a science-fiction movie)

4. Beetles (these are what breed and lay the eggs)

Mealworms will reach a maximum length of roughly one inch after molting approximately 5 times.

Breed your own?

This can be fun and the children can have some trouble free and useful pets. They don’t take up much space and are quite entertaining when wresseling a large piece of bran flake or performing community munching on a slice of potato….

Environment:

Mealworms are one of the easiest feeder insect to house and can take up very little space. Many people opt to keep their mealworm colonies in:

1. Small glass aquariums

2. Plastic storage boxes

3. Plastic storage drawer systems

4. Plastic food containers

For your colony, you will want to use a container that:

1. Has smooth sides to prevent the worms from crawling out and escaping.

2. Is easy to disinfect periodically.

3. Allows ample ventilation and air to circulate freely to avoid the build-up of potentially harmful mold and bacteria.

For providing the necessary ventilation you can:

1. Use a screened lid for your aquarium.

2. Cut a large section out of a plastic lid (you can also cover this with mesh).

3. Or leave the lid off the container completely.

Its important to provide roughly 3 inches of high-quality and nutritious substrate for the worms to burrow in and eat. Many people keep their mealworms on a simple substrate of oat bran. I like to provide a nice variety in their bedding (which they eat).

Suggested Menu: Rolled oats, wheat or oat bran, bran flakes, shredded wheat (all crushed for easy eating).

Vegatables are there primarily to provide water to the mealworms. I like to provide think slices of vegatable, like potatoe, carrot or brocolli (thou brocolli can smell a bit). Vegatables should be scrubbed to remove insectasides or peeled to remove the chemicals that way.

For preference, slice pieces of scrubbed veggies and lay them onto the bedding with the skin touching the bedding, thus minimising any chance of making the bedding damp and causing mould.

Every couple of months, replace and replenish the substrate as well as remove any fecal matter that has accumulated on the bottom. Remove any dead mealworms/pupae/beetles that you might see, on a daily basis.

Breeding mealworms is actually a very simple process They practically breed themselves with no extra work on your behalf. Some people will choose to breed their mealworms in the same enclosure while others like to separate the various life stages (ie larvae, pupae and beetle). I use old Tupperware type boxes without lids – they don’t seem to want to leave…

It is a good idea though to remove the pupae into their own container until they have turned into beetles at which point, you can move them in with the rest of the beetles. It is not uncommon for the worms and beetles to munch on the pupae.

If you want to start breeding your own mealworms, start with a around 50 – 100. I keep my breeding stock away from the bird feeding stock, simply to concentrate on the breeders, although I feed my bird-feeding stock, seems like the least I can do for their final days …

The worms will turn into pupae and after approximately 10 to 15 days, they will emerge as beetles. The beetles will breed and lay the eggs. The beetles start to mate and lay eggs within several days (roughly 1 week) of pupating and will continue to do so for approximately 4 months (after which they die).

The female beetles tend to be significantly larger than male beetles. These females can typically lay up to 500 eggs throughout their lifetime. Each egg is roughly 1/20th of an inch and sticks to the substrate so chances are, you will not see the eggs. The eggs hatch about 1 week after they were laid. These worms will achieve optimal growth rates when kept between 75 and 80F.

Take care when cleaning and replacing substrate that you do not accidentally throw out the eggs or baby worms!