Jump to content

Mini Mealworms?


Insect Direct

Recommended Posts

Anyone else finding small beetles (about 5mm) or fast little black worms popping up in there cultures?

Ive been buying mealworms from biosupplies for a couple of years and about 6 months ago noticed some small beetles (half the size of the common sort) in my cultures so went about separating them to see if they bred true to type or were just runty old mealworms (tenebrio molitor). As it turns out yes they breed true and the worms only get to about 10mm before pupating into beetles, worms also darken before maturing and move much faster than the common sort.

Done some googling and turns out theyre "mini mealworms". I have a feeling theyre just a common beetle you find in gardens as im sure ive seen them before but never really thought much of it but I also cant find anything online about people having/breeding them in nz which is abit weird.

blah blah blah

anyway just curious has anyone else come across these?

tia

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I have found these as well,I just put it down to my neglecting the cultures,lack of water etc and a bonsai strain?also years of inbreeding may have a bearing?Sometimes I get a bit slack with the carrot /spud supply in there?Have not really studdied the beetles but seen the smaller pupae.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Theyre a different species going on what ive found online, have found more than one scientific name though :roll:

I never thought much of them until i bred them, the worms are much faster and once theyre over 5mm they start going black on the top half of the body and only get to a size of 10-12mm, one overseas firm selling them claims theyre really high in protein but that could be just a sales pitch.

Theyre really fast so predators (baby bds etc) seem to catch on to them quick smart. Breed well to just a lil more tricky to harvest given there size.

Spoke to someone yesterday who said theyve been around for years but had a bad rep (apparintly abit hard to digest) but looks like thats abit of a myth like the one that mealworms can chew out of the dragons.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
×
×
  • Create New...