I'm not entirely sure, but mine can get up to 120 degrees outside during the summer with no noticeable ill effects. They don't do well at all at temperatures above that though.
Mealworm farming
- Thread starter hannakat
- Start date
I'm not entirely sure, but mine can get up to 120 degrees outside during the summer with no noticeable ill effects. They don't do well at all at temperatures above that though.
That sounds like a good plan. The beetles of invading species will typically be much smaller than the standard mealworms and should be easy to distinguish.
- Jan 14, 2013
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OK, I'm going to do it. I'm joining the mealworm parade..
I'm on page 129, first thing I do in the morning is tune into this thread reading, last thing I do is tune into this thread reading.
I just woke up from a mealworm farming dream!!
I don't even HAVE any, but I'm DREAMING about them?
Well, I'm sure the toad and my friends bearded dragon will love them. I think she also has Boxies.. Does anyone know if parakeets like mealworms? I am so far away from being able to use them for any use of my own, save my youngest's toad.
Eh, maybe I can convince the dogs to eat them, lolol.
I'm on page 129, first thing I do in the morning is tune into this thread reading, last thing I do is tune into this thread reading.
I just woke up from a mealworm farming dream!!
I don't even HAVE any, but I'm DREAMING about them?
Well, I'm sure the toad and my friends bearded dragon will love them. I think she also has Boxies.. Does anyone know if parakeets like mealworms? I am so far away from being able to use them for any use of my own, save my youngest's toad.
Eh, maybe I can convince the dogs to eat them, lolol.
That is a very cleaver idea CG3! Unfortunately, there is often so much variability in biological processes like this that some of the bad guys will almost certainly survive.
Phooey! Oh well, back to picking through it I go! Thank you for you help.
OK, I'm going to do it. I'm joining the mealworm parade..
I'm on page 129, first thing I do in the morning is tune into this thread reading, last thing I do is tune into this thread reading.
I just woke up from a mealworm farming dream!!
I don't even HAVE any, but I'm DREAMING about them?
Well, I'm sure the toad and my friends bearded dragon will love them. I think she also has Boxies.. Does anyone know if parakeets like mealworms? I am so far away from being able to use them for any use of my own, save my youngest's toad.
Eh, maybe I can convince the dogs to eat them, lolol.
We feed mealies to several things at work. From the small reptiles to the monkeys. I say give a few to the birdie and see if they like them. They are mostly fruit and nut eaters, but they may eat them.
Yay... Another victim falls prey to this thread. WELCOME!OK, I'm going to do it. I'm joining the mealworm parade..
I'm on page 129, first thing I do in the morning is tune into this thread reading, last thing I do is tune into this thread reading.
I just woke up from a mealworm farming dream!!
I don't even HAVE any, but I'm DREAMING about them?
Well, I'm sure the toad and my friends bearded dragon will love them. I think she also has Boxies.. Does anyone know if parakeets like mealworms? I am so far away from being able to use them for any use of my own, save my youngest's toad.
Eh, maybe I can convince the dogs to eat them, lolol.
Just wait until you have nothing but beetles and are waiting for signs of babies. That is when your patience is tested. Of course, once this happens I would say that your patience is tested again as you wait for the tiny "worms" to get bigger and useable. I think I will start my 2nd container tomorrow
ETA: As far as parakeets, I would say it depends on the type of parakeet. Easy enough to try though.
Last edited:
CAUTION: LONG POST TO FOLLOW (got carried away haha)... nothing really new, but just putting things in perspective
I was just reading a quick study of temperature affects on darkling beetles. No species was given since this was not the actual scientific study, but was using graphs from one. The first thing I noticed is that the temperature of the litter is more important than the air. This makes sense since that is where they live. So using a reptile heater or something like some people here are doing seems to be a great idea. The second thing I noticed is that temperatures just below 70F are quite different from those around 80. The difference between 80 and 90 and 100F were not as drastic even though there were definite differences. At 68F, the life cycle is much longer and as a result the survival rate is much lower. Like I said, the species was not given and I am pretty sure this is not the ones we grow, but the logic still stands. When the litter is cooler, it takes longer for the eggs to hatch which increases the likely hood that the egg won't hatch at all. But that is just the start. The cooler temperatures also increase the time in the larval stage (mealworm stage). This has a large impact on survival rate.
Besides temperature, one thing that sticks in my mind is the difference the starting colony number makes. I knew that it made a difference, but never really calculated it. In my mind I am thinking in terms of increasing the number 10 fold over the life of the beetle. Like I said, I never put numbers to it. But even with my original estimate, starting with 50 mealworms yields 500 vs starting with 1000 mealworms yielding 10,000. Boy, was I in the wrong mindset. Now that I saw some real numbers applied in this article, not only were my numbers off, but this is really a logarithmic difference. The article says that on average, you can expect 5 eggs per day from a female in the higher temperatures (over 95F). If you start with enough mealworms to yield 100 beetles after the mortality rate, let's say 50 are female. That means that 250 eggs are laid a day. After 30 days, that is 7500 eggs. After 60 days, that is 15,000 eggs. After 90 days that is 22,500 eggs. Now let's look at the same numbers if you had enough to end up with 200 female beetles (so 400 beetles in our example). 1 day = 1000 eggs. 30 Days = 30,000 eggs. 60 days = 60,000 eggs. 90 days = 90,000 eggs. This is just egg production. You would then have to factor in the mortality rate of the eggs and the larvae. But you would also have to factor in any larvae becoming a beetle and laying their own eggs. But I'lll stop here before I make this even longer.
So now I am wondering the best way to get my temperatures up. I would say anything over 80F would be ideal. Right now they are at around 70 (I haven't checked for a bit). I don't really want to use a space heater and the reptile pads that attach to the outside of the cage give a large range of possible increase for the product (between 2 and 8 degrees F). Not worth it for 2 degrees, but maybe for 8. However I imagine there are ones out there that might be better. I also can't wait for Spring... or Summer
I was just reading a quick study of temperature affects on darkling beetles. No species was given since this was not the actual scientific study, but was using graphs from one. The first thing I noticed is that the temperature of the litter is more important than the air. This makes sense since that is where they live. So using a reptile heater or something like some people here are doing seems to be a great idea. The second thing I noticed is that temperatures just below 70F are quite different from those around 80. The difference between 80 and 90 and 100F were not as drastic even though there were definite differences. At 68F, the life cycle is much longer and as a result the survival rate is much lower. Like I said, the species was not given and I am pretty sure this is not the ones we grow, but the logic still stands. When the litter is cooler, it takes longer for the eggs to hatch which increases the likely hood that the egg won't hatch at all. But that is just the start. The cooler temperatures also increase the time in the larval stage (mealworm stage). This has a large impact on survival rate.
Besides temperature, one thing that sticks in my mind is the difference the starting colony number makes. I knew that it made a difference, but never really calculated it. In my mind I am thinking in terms of increasing the number 10 fold over the life of the beetle. Like I said, I never put numbers to it. But even with my original estimate, starting with 50 mealworms yields 500 vs starting with 1000 mealworms yielding 10,000. Boy, was I in the wrong mindset. Now that I saw some real numbers applied in this article, not only were my numbers off, but this is really a logarithmic difference. The article says that on average, you can expect 5 eggs per day from a female in the higher temperatures (over 95F). If you start with enough mealworms to yield 100 beetles after the mortality rate, let's say 50 are female. That means that 250 eggs are laid a day. After 30 days, that is 7500 eggs. After 60 days, that is 15,000 eggs. After 90 days that is 22,500 eggs. Now let's look at the same numbers if you had enough to end up with 200 female beetles (so 400 beetles in our example). 1 day = 1000 eggs. 30 Days = 30,000 eggs. 60 days = 60,000 eggs. 90 days = 90,000 eggs. This is just egg production. You would then have to factor in the mortality rate of the eggs and the larvae. But you would also have to factor in any larvae becoming a beetle and laying their own eggs. But I'lll stop here before I make this even longer.
So now I am wondering the best way to get my temperatures up. I would say anything over 80F would be ideal. Right now they are at around 70 (I haven't checked for a bit). I don't really want to use a space heater and the reptile pads that attach to the outside of the cage give a large range of possible increase for the product (between 2 and 8 degrees F). Not worth it for 2 degrees, but maybe for 8. However I imagine there are ones out there that might be better. I also can't wait for Spring... or Summer
Excellent points about the importance of the starting size of the colony Mavrk! There is another reason initial population size is important: the number of eggs a female will lay (fecundity) is directly proportional to the number of mates she has. Males transfer substances during mating (beyond sperm) that facilitate egg production. Indeed, females produce a pheromone to attract as many mates as possible to facilitate this benefit. With greater population densities females will have greater opportunities for interaction with males.
Also, I like to think about temperature and mealworm development as a candle. The brighter the candle burns, the shorter it's duration. The dimmer it burns the longer it burns, but with greater risk of being snuffed out. Perhaps it's an oversimplification, but for our purposes it seems apt. The greater the temperatures, the shorter the lifespan. There is a "sweet spot", somewhere in the 80's where the trade-off between speed of development and shortened lifespan will produce the greatest number of offspring.
Also, I like to think about temperature and mealworm development as a candle. The brighter the candle burns, the shorter it's duration. The dimmer it burns the longer it burns, but with greater risk of being snuffed out. Perhaps it's an oversimplification, but for our purposes it seems apt. The greater the temperatures, the shorter the lifespan. There is a "sweet spot", somewhere in the 80's where the trade-off between speed of development and shortened lifespan will produce the greatest number of offspring.
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