Mealworm farming

[Terri O]

I put some paper towel and part of an egg carton in my bin and they seem to like to hide in all the crevices that makes. When you put your carrot in put it on a plastic lid so it doesnt get your bedding wet. The beetles like to hide under it too! Good luck for eggs! The beetles know what do do.

Terri O

 

[BeccaSmith]

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Thanks for the info! I just happen to have some extra egg cartons laying around (can't imagine why

)

 

[anklebiter]

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Gallo, when I get home i'll look at it more closely. Not too much detail can be seen on this phone. I'm wondering, concerning the sizes of the large pupae in contrast to the Wheat Bran, if it's possible the smaller ones are actually miniworms (Tenebrio Obscurus)? That would explain the smaller and slightly different shaped beetles as well. I've not had any real experience with the minis, but it's just a thought. The large pupae look too small for a Superworm (Zophobas Morio), but i'll look at them closer later this evening.

 

[anklebiter]

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While Supers prefer and require mid 70's and higher to thrive and reproduce, they can in fact live in 58-62 degree temps - they just don't do much, and certainly won't reproduce (pupate) at these temps. I tried this as an experiment and mid 50's was as low as I could go (closed off room in the house last winter). I'm honestly not sure what bottom temp is for the Supers before they die, but i've done 60-deg. F. for 2 weeks and no casualties....

 

[WestKnollAmy]

I would like to try super meal worms at some point.
Although the regular meal worms are selling quickly, I have a few folks asking after the super meal worms and would like to try them.
And I would love to see the chicks work on one of those!

It is funny enough to see them try to hog down a big white grub.

 

[anklebiter]

Ok, here's an attached pic I took of a Superworm Pupae next to 2 Mealworm Pupae. These are all average size pupae, not particularly large or small for each species. This makes me think even more now that the smaller ones in 'onafixedincome's colony are probably mini mealworms (Tenebrio Obscurus) which is definitely a different species. Although, there is the possibility of more sub-species of T. Molitor that might just now be showing up. It's not very likely, but is possible. Maybe not a sub-species, but a closely related species anyway.

 

[t/m]

Hi, maybe it's already been covered, but are these the same type of worms that are 'dried' and does anyone know how to do that? I've read some of the beginning, have been keeping somewhat up to date by subscribing to this post but I missed alot in the middle and haven't been able to get to it yet!! love all the info and the sense of humor!

 

[anklebiter]

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Yes, Superworms are fun and aggravating at the same time. They are larger and more cannibalistic, and require much more space than Mealworms. Moisture. Did I mention Moisture? They need it much more than mealworms and will eat each other if they don't get enough. They also don't like overcrowding and will maintain their own population control if housing bins aren't large enough.

Then there is the separation of the Lg. Superworms for pupation. While this is not a big deal, it is a little more time consuming. I use an old Lg. Marine Battery Box (Black) with holes for ventilation in the lid. Inside this dark box, the superworms are housed individually in small plastic drinking cups. Usually, they only take a week or 2 to pupate. Of course the shelf that they are on is heated from underneath with a string of C-7 Christmas Lights, which maintains a pretty constant 84-deg. on the shelf surface. Once or twice a week i'll check this box and move the pupae to a separate container all of their own, no need to keep the pupae individually. Of course I also check the pupae container a couple of times a week, moving any newly hatch beetles to the beetle bin.

The beetle bin has aluminum window screening in the bottom to allow the newly hatched supers to fall down into a cat litter pan. Once a month I change out the contents of this pan so I can keep the growing supers fairly consistent in size. The contents of this pan are put in plastic tubs which I use to grow out the supers - keeping some of them for more beetles of course.

Mind you this is not a large Superworm operation, but it is more than enough to keep my Oscars happy.

 

[WestKnollAmy]

Wow! I didn't know Oscars ate them.

Great info on the super meal worms. Thank you. I haven't had time to research them but know I would like to branch out eventually.

 

[anklebiter]

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Well, it all started with Mealworms. I was curious one day and threw a couple of mealies in the Oscar tank. Up until this point the Mealworms were raised for feeding birds. The Oscars loved them - but kept growing, as Oscars do. I later got the hair-brained idea to try Superworms, since they are larger. I bought a few dozen and the fish loved them. So let's just say nature took it's course.

My daughter caught her first fish this spring - a 5" Bluegill. Since it was the first fish she ever caught 100% on her own, she absolutely insisted upon keeping it. I kept it in a quarantine tank for a month and treated it to kill any bacteria, fungus, parasites, etc. and later threw it in with the Oscars. I honest didn't expect him to make it in captivity due to his age and size, but he's doing great. They all get along, although the Male Oscar is still the king of the tank.

That stupid Bluegill loves the Mealworms and Superworms too.


If you later have any questions about Superworms, i'll be glad to try to help you out. I'm not an expert by any means, but I have raised (and am still raising) several generations of Superworms for my own use.