# Mealworm eggs and Super mealworm Eggs



## Zelthan (Jan 11, 2012)

Hi I have some questions, I am working on a big project about breeding mealworms and supermealworms, I get eggs every day from my 550 ,mealworm beetles, each week I change, beetles to another box with new substrate I feed them with water crystals every time they run out, I have no fungal issues with substrate I am using plain bran and egg crates, I haven seen any newborns in most of the cage where I saw eggs some have few only 50 beetles per box should mean thousands of larvae right?


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## twolfe (Jan 11, 2012)

I've been raising Tenebrio molitor (darkling beetles) for about 5 years.

How long has it been since the eggs were laid? I've read that it takes about a week before you can see the tiny larvae. Mine hide well in the chicken start feed that I use as a base/substrate.

http://www.sialis.org/raisingmealworms.htm

This website above suggests that each female lays about 40 eggs per day for 2 - 3 months.

I leave all stages of the darkling beetle in tubs together (eggs, larvae, pupae and adults). I'm not sure if any are eaten. I'm able to harvest about 500 a week most of the time with my colonies. Production slows down when it gets really cold in the winter because mine are kept in the basement.

Do you add fruits and vegetables to your colony? They love potatoes and apples. Apple cores never go to waste in my house.


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## Zelthan (Jan 11, 2012)

Oh forgot to talk about tenerbio molitor., I have cultures of those too, I separate beetles and put them all together in a box with bran (about 100 beetles) and just founded a little amount of larvae, I feed mealworms with bran, watter cristals and potatoes, supermealworms with potatoes, and prikly pear


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## twolfe (Jan 11, 2012)

When you say mealworm, what kind of mealworm is it then? Tenebrio molitor is probably the most common larvae that is sold as "mealworm."


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## Zelthan (Jan 11, 2012)

I have palembus dermestoides , tenebrio molitor, and zophobas morio


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## Zelthan (Jan 11, 2012)

Palmebus are breeding really bad, tenebrio just a little, and zophobas I can see like 20 worms per box and thats almost nuthing!


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## hibiscusmile (Jan 11, 2012)

The worms are so tiny, the only way to see them is to have some very fine bran or flour and sift the bottom of the substrate thru a strainer to see them, leave it be for a few minutes and u should see some tiny lines being made in the flour, the tiny worms are moving like a jet in the sky u will see the lines move. try to use just a tiny amount of flour, as u will have to put all this back into a new container so they can grow, u dont usually see them, *but they are there*, also remember the worms will use the skin of dried out apple skin, carrot or potato as a home and when u throw it out, they will be thrown away with them. also which one of you want s to sell me some of them darkwing beetles? Tammy?


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## Zelthan (Jan 11, 2012)

I have common meal worms and zophobas the only rare ones are the palmebus that are 5mm long


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## twolfe (Jan 11, 2012)

What was your source for the larvae or beetles?

I once tried to start a culture from some I bought at a pet store, but I didn't have any luck. I heard that they are sometimes treated with hormones. That link above also mentioned that this could make them sterile. I've also found that they don't reproduce well if they've been refrigerated at all.

They are really hard to see for a while.


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## Zelthan (Jan 11, 2012)

Oh the small ones I´ve been breeding them for years but They must have some issues with humidity what worries me are the larga ones


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## twolfe (Jan 11, 2012)

hibiscusmile said:


> The worms are so tiny, the only way to see them is to have some very fine bran or flour and sift the bottom of the substrate thru a strainer to see them, leave it be for a few minutes and u should see some tiny lines being made in the flour, the tiny worms are moving like a jet in the sky u will see the lines move. try to use just a tiny amount of flour, as u will have to put all this back into a new container so they can grow, u dont usually see them, *but they are there*, also remember the worms will use the skin of dried out apple skin, carrot or potato as a home and when u throw it out, they will be thrown away with them. also which one of you want s to sell me some of them darkwing beetles? Tammy?


Rebecca, I can sell you some if you are looking for a quantity just to start a colony.

If you are looking to use them as feeders for hundreds of mantids, then you may want to try a source like www.grubco.com

I raise mine year round and feed them to my turtle and the mantis in the winter.

I still buy 20,000 mealworms a month from May - July to feed the bluebirds.


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## Zelthan (Jan 11, 2012)

Anyone knows the correct way to incubate zophobas morio?


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## twolfe (Jan 11, 2012)

Zeth said:


> Anyone knows the correct way to incubate zophobas morio?


I've never raised this species. Have you tried googling it?That link to that website had this information, and it said that they are more difficult to breed. It sounds like a lot of work to me.

Raising Superworms: Superworms (_Zophobas morio_) are used for feeding reptiles, birds, and for bait. Apparently they have less of an exoskeleton than mealworms. It is more difficult to breed superworms, but it can be done. Here is some information that Larry Broadbent gleaned from the Internet and experience.
​

Superworms SHOULD NOT BE REFRIGERATED as it will kill them.

A 10 gallon Rubbermaid bin holds three hundred worms. Figure that about half will die before they turn into beetles.

1-4" of bedding mix should be placed on the bottom of the bin. Wheat bran bedding mixed with some poultry mash works best. Some commercial growers add brewers yeast to increase growth and add protein content.

Like mealworms, superworms require moisture - otherwise they will cannibalize each other. This is the dilemma. The worms need the water, but too much water will get into the bedding, and the bedding will ferment, bacteria will grow, and the worms will die. Potato, and/or apple slices work well. The worms "drink" from the slices, and the bedding stays dry.

Superworms require warmth. Room temperature is fine for keeping the worms, but they need 70ºF and up to breed. Colonies should be kept at 70-80 degrees F, or eggs, worms, and pupa will die and beetles will not reproduce.

Like mealworms, superworms have four stages: egg, larva (worm), pupa and beetles. The beetles are much larger than mealworm beetles, and change color as they mature. The beetle stage lays eggs.

To get superworms to pupate, place them under stress. Unlike mealworms, superworms should be placed individually in small plastic containers such as 35mm film containers (stacked on their sides like drums), in order for them to metamorphose. Egg cartons or covered ice cube trays might also work. Include a little bran, cover the container with a cap, and check weekly.

It will take a +/-30 days for them to pupate. The worms should curl up. This means they are morphing. If they are straight and still, they are dead. Dead Superworms stink.

Pupae do not eat. If touched or exposed to bright light, they may wiggle.

When they become beetles (turning from white to reddish color in 24 hours), place them into a bin with bran/chicken feed, and slices of potato or apple quarters. Place 100-150 in a 3 gallon Rubbermaid bin filled with 1-2" of peat moss.

About two eggs would fit on the head of a pin. Move beetles to a new container every 10-14 days to keep the beetles or newly hatched worms from eating the eggs. When the beetles die in a few weeks remove them, and leave the bin at 70ºF.

New worms should be visible in about a month or two after the death of the beetles.

Some farmers only feed newly molted (white) superworms to reptiles, as there have been cases where adult superworms injured some herps such as chameleons.


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## hibiscusmile (Jan 11, 2012)

all good info, yes Tammy I just want to start some, I have superworm beetles as I use my large worms to begin the process, my superworm beetles are more of a pet, I never feed them off as they tear at my heart for some reason. Tammy if you want to trade for feeder pupae or whatever let me know, am sending out heat packs tomorrow.


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## hibiscusmile (Jan 11, 2012)

ok, good info, sorry, lost me head, I have them. for some reason I thought we were talking about something else. still sending heat pks tomorrow.


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## Zelthan (Jan 11, 2012)

I have done all the process, but I get superworms eggs and few or none larvae


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## hibiscusmile (Jan 12, 2012)

I cant see that happening, leave them be and wait and see, they must be there.


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## lancaster1313 (Jan 12, 2012)

hibiscusmile said:


> all good info, yes Tammy I just want to start some, I have superworm beetles as I use my large worms to begin the process, my superworm beetles are more of a pet, I never feed them off as they tear at my heart for some reason. Tammy if you want to trade for feeder pupae or whatever let me know, am sending out heat packs tomorrow.


I am glad that I am not the only one who has trouble feeding off the _Zophobas morio_. I think they are too cute when they scoot backwards. :wub: 

I had one that pupated and eclosed in my scorpion's container, so I separated a couple more to pupate and put them together in a container with a dried rotten piece of wood and some oatmeal. After what seemed like forever, I have larvae. I plan on breeding many more after I move, and have the space to do it.

I know someone that keeps them in a display container with a huge piece of rotten wood. It looks awesome and is what I plan to do with mine, instead of breeding them just for feeders. :innocent:


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## Zelthan (Jan 12, 2012)

I´ll get rotten wood that could be


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## D.J. (Jan 12, 2012)

The mealworms got in my tortois incloser no I have to many lol


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## hibiscusmile (Jan 12, 2012)

how do u find rotton wood?


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## Zelthan (Jan 12, 2012)

rotten logs are the ones that have been on forest floor a loong time, they might be wet and all drilled by bugs


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## lancaster1313 (Jan 12, 2012)

Zeth said:


> rotten logs are the ones that have been on forest floor a loong time, they might be wet and all drilled by bugs


If you worry about pests being in the rotten logs and sticks, you can soak them and heat treat them in the oven. I use oven bags like what some people put turkeys in.

I got the advice from Orin Mcmonigle's book: "The Complete Guide to Rearing Darkling Beetles".

I also keep some other darkling beetles that I got from Peter Clausen.

They are very cool beetles and some can live for a long time. I am hoping that some of our _Asbolus verrucosus (_Blue Death Feigning beetles) can still be alive when my 6 year old is an adult. If not, I have started to see some larvae. We also have a pair of _Eleodes sp_., a _Phloeodes diabolicus_ (Diabolical Ironclad beetle), and a tiny one with lined elytra (I don't remember the species)that is very cute.

I love my little beetles!


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## hibiscusmile (Jan 12, 2012)

yea, hummm, will ask my son to get me some rotton logs, but u know, when I clean something out, I would just say to myself "self, that log is rotten, I better throw it out" see my delima?


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## Zelthan (Jan 14, 2012)

You could compare rotten wood with old wood eaten by termite its soft and all piercerd


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## hibiscusmile (Jan 14, 2012)

guess I better be careful, wouldnt want a termmie in my house. and forgot to ask my birthday boy today about some wood!


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## Zelthan (Jan 16, 2012)

you can boild the log


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