Aprox. how long do mature meal worms live before becoming pupa?

[kubotafoot]

I have a thriving colony now (since figuring out they needed more moisture, but that's a different thread....) and want to feed a bunch out to my blue bird friends and hens. I am assured there is not a set in stone number of days, and it has to do with food, water, temp and so forth, but for those folks who are old timers with farming, about how long do the meal worms large enough to feed the birds live before turning into pupa? I want them to grow to a good size for maxim feed, but don't want to have them pupate (is that the right word?) before I get a chance to feed them out? Are we talking a week? 2? 3? Just an average time line for a good sized meal worm, please.... Thanks!!

 

[aart]

This site has good info on range of times for lifecycles......and yes, pupate is the correct term.

I guess you'd have to watch and when a batch starts to pupate, start feeding.....
.....but I see all sizes of larvae as well as pupae in a bin, I think because the beetles mate and lay eggs over a period of several weeks, so would be hard to segregate without going in every few days and harvesting out the largest larvae.

I would think that the pupae could be fed also with about the same nutrition levels.