Task: Each group was given some mealworms to care for. The challenge is to keep the mealworms happy & healthy so that they'll grow up and reproduce.
Questions:
~ What do you think mealworms will grow up to be? Will the adults look like the mealworms?
~What do mealworms eat? Do they need water? How do they get their water supply?
~What is their natural habitat? Do they like to live in cold & dark or bright & warm places? What kind of containers should you use to rear the mealworms?
Observing the mealworms in their new home.
Searching for information on the mealworms.
Looking for food to feed the mealworms.
Mealworms are typically used as a food source for reptile, fish, and avian pets. They are also provided to wild birds in bird feeders, particularly during the nesting season when birds are raising their young and appreciate a ready food supply. Mealworms are high in protein, which makes them especially useful as a food source. They are also commonly used for fishing bait.
ReplyDeleteThey can be purchased at most pet stores and bait shops. They are also available via mail order and via internet suppliers (by the thousand). Mealworms are typically sold in a container with bran or oatmeal for food.
When rearing mealworms, commercial growers incorporate a juvenile hormone into the feeding process to keep the mealworm in the larval stage and achieve an abnormal length of 2 cm or greater.
mealworms can't eat juicy fruit i guess
ReplyDeleteWhen I first saw the mealworms, I felt that they were really YUCKY! But after awhile, I felt that they were really CUTE!
ReplyDeleteEGG'S: The eggs of the Tenebrio beetle are laid directly onto the food source, in our case wheat bran flakes. Once mated with the male, the female can lay up to five hundred eggs, either singly or in clusters, These eggs are oval shaped and are very hard to see, they measure one millimetre long. And will hatch in about 20 to 40 days time.
ReplyDeleteLARVAE: The larvae stage of the Tenebrio beetle, is known to a lot of people as the mealworm, this is when it's most useful to us bird keepers and fishermen, also they can be fried and sprinkled on to a salad, (not for me thanks). The larvae has 13 to 15 yellowish brown segments that makes up its body, apart from the segments it has three pairs of legs at the head end. As the larvae grows it will need to shred its skin so it can get bigger, this will happen several times over the larvae stage. The larvae stage can last for weeks or months depending on the environment in which it's kept, according to some literature the larvae has been know to last up to two years.
PUPA: The pupa stage of the Tenebrio beetle is when the beetle does the most metamorphosis. The pupa measures about, 20 millimetres long. At this point the pupa looks like something from outer space. The pupa doesn't move but when picked up it will riddle. Inside this pupa the mealworm is changing into a beetle. The pupa cracks open between 18 to 24 days and the final stage begins, the new beetle emerges.
THE BEETLE: When the beetle emerge from the pupa, it's soft and white in colour, after an hour or so the beetle starts going orange and hardening up its body shell, after a week or so the beetle will be black, a young adult. The life span of the beetle is only 2 to 4 weeks.
From egg to beetle takes approximately three months depending on moisture and warmth.
http://www.javafinch.co.uk/feed/live/live.html
1.I think mealworms will grow up to be beetles.
ReplyDelete2.Yes,the adults will look like the mealworms.
3.Mealworms eat decaying leaves,sticks and dead insects.
4.Yes,they need water.
5.They get their water supply from the fruits we put in.
6.Their natural habitat for mealworms are they are not found in wild places much.
7.They lives in cool and damp places.
8.I should use a fish tank to rear the mealworms.
Mealworm beetles eat grains and decaying matter.
ReplyDeleteIf you feed wild birds, or if you own a lizard as a pet, you are aware of their fondness for mealworms. Fed as a treat or food supplement, mealworms form a highly desired portion of their diets. Although it is sometimes expensive to purchase enough mealworms to keep your birds or your pet happy, breeding mealworms is not a difficult task. All it takes is a plastic container, some unprocessed bran, and some starter mealworms. Here is how you go about it.
ReplyDeleteMaterials
Bran flakes: Unprocessed wheat bran is the best medium in which to keep your meal worms. If unprocessed wheat bran is unavailable, then "old-fashioned" rolled oats (not instant oatmeal) will do.
Mealworms: Any quantity between 100 and 1000 mealworms will work. Fewer than 100 mealworms will be unlikely to produce a viable colony. Mealworms can be found at specialty bird stores, feed and grain stores, or over the Internet.
Container(s): A wide variety of containers can be used to house your mealworms. Your container must be smooth-sided, so that your mealworms don't crawl out. It needs to allow air to circulate, to prevent mold from forming. Containers with lids can be used, but they need to be modified for ventilation. The container must also be easy to clean and disinfect. It is possible to use a small glass aquarium, although the container most frequently used to house mealworms is a simple plastic container.
Although any plastic or glass container with sufficient depth will do, a large rectangular container with a lid is best. The most frequently recommended size is about 18" x 6"x 12". This size of container will allow you to have a reasonably large colony without running the risk being unable to use what you produce. A plastic shoebox works well for this purpose. To keep your colony going in the most efficient manner, you'll probably want to have several containers on hand. Not all of the containers need to be as large as the main breeding container, as they will be used to hold the "worms."
Screen mesh: The same size mesh as that used for screen doors or window. The size will vary on whether a lid is used or not. If using an aquarium for a container, small-mesh aquarium screens are available.
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Mealworms are typically used as a food source for reptile, fish, and avian pets. They are also provided to wild birds in bird feeders, particularly during the nesting season when birds are raising their young and appreciate a ready food supply. Mealworms are high in protein, which makes them especially useful as a food source. They are also commonly used for fishing bait.
ReplyDeleteThey can be purchased at most pet stores and bait shops. They are also available via mail order and via internet suppliers (by the thousand). Mealworms are typically sold in a container with bran or oatmeal for food.
When rearing mealworms, commercial growers incorporate a juvenile hormone into the feeding process to keep the mealworm in the larval stage and achieve an abnormal length of 2 cm or greater.
Tenebrio molitor is also used for biological research. Its relatively large size, ease of rearing and handling, and status as a non-model organism make it attractive for proof-of-principle study. Researchers worldwide, but particularly in Sheffield (UK) and Pusan (Korea), currently use this beetle as a model system for studies in biology, biochemistry, evolution, immunology and physiology.
I found some information about the life cycle of a mealworm:Darkling beetles follow a life history known as complete metamorphosis. Like butterflies and moths, they go through four distinct stages during their life cycle. A female beetle lays eggs, as many as 500 in her brief lifetime of a month or two. The eggs are about the size of the period at the end of this sentence. After a couple of weeks the equally tiny larvae emerge from the eggs. The larvae are known as mealworms, but of course they are not true worms. The larvae are golden yellow and have 12 body segments. They are the counterpart of the familiar caterpillar in the butterfly story. Mealworms pull themselves around on six stubby legs that are all crowded at the front.
ReplyDeleteThe larvae seem to have two purposes in life: eat and grow. Beetles are arthropods, and like all members of their phylum they wear their skeleton on the outside like a suit of armor. This is very practical when they are being attacked, but very inconvenient when they are trying to grow. The arthropods have solved this problem by shedding (molting) their shell periodically. Immediately following the molt the soft, white larvae expand before the new larger shell hardens. This process may repeat half a dozen or more times over a 3-month period, after which time the larvae are about 2 cm (3/4") long. The final larval molt reveals the next stage, the pupa.
The pupae don't eat and they don't move except for a twitch or two when disturbed. Inside, however, the mealworm is turning into a beetle, much the same as a caterpillar turns into a butterfly while sequestered inside the chrysalis. In 2 or 3 weeks the pupa splits open and out walks a beetle, white at first, but soon turning to brown and finally black after a day. The beetles mate and lay eggs, and the cycle repeats.
Rearing Habitat
ReplyDelete• A clear plastic cup with a cover, or a margarine tub or deli container.
• 1/8" wheat bran or crushed wheat flakes in bottom of container.
• A crumpled piece of paper, pinecone or empty film
canister and a piece of apple or potato
(replace before it becomes moldy).
• Small air holes in the lid, since a dry climate is important.
Food
Wheat bran, crushed wheat flakes, oatmeal
and a piece of apple or potato.
Water
Mealworms do not need water. They will obtain
all of the water they need from the
piece of potato or apple.
Raising Young
Mealworms are very easy to rear in the classroom. The larvae grow to 25 mm before pupating. After
pupating, the adults emerge in two to three weeks. In seven to ten days, the females may lay eggs. In
about fourteen days, the eggs hatch and the larvae begin to eat and develop.
Additional Information
Mealworms will not bite. Dead mealworms are stiff and dark brown and should be removed from
the container. Provide plenty of room for the large mealworms since they will eat each other in a
constrained container. Small mealworms can be stored in a container on a refrigerator door shelf for
several weeks to delay pupation or to extend their lives.
Hi,I am doing a science project about mealworms. I need to seperate 100 mealworms in groups of five. What do reccomend that I use to house all of these mealworms; I need them to be inexpensive and small so I can find them easily.
ReplyDeleteThanks in advance,
Morgan