Mealworms & Styrofoam Composting

[Acro]

Are you using Mealworms to compost styrofoam? I have a setup and I was wondering, do mealbeetles eat styrofoam too, or just the mealworms?

Do you have any other tips on styrofoam composting with mealworms?

 

[Orin]

I'm curious if they really can survive on it alone.

 

[hibiscusmile]

I see they say wax worms eat plastic, I have found most chewing insects will eat anything when hungry, but I dont think that makes them healthy to feed off with all those chemicals in their body.

 

[Acro]

I'm curious if they really can survive on it alone.

From what I've read, yes, they can. (see links below)  And I've started raising some with only styrofoam . . . and they are still alive.  I just mist with water every now and then.  I think the beetles need other foods though, but I'm not totally sure yet.

I see they say wax worms eat plastic, I have found most chewing insects will eat anything when hungry, but I dont think that makes them healthy to feed off with all those chemicals in their body.

From what I've read, they pass any chemicals within 48 hours, and are then healthy to use as feeders.

Check out the links below! 

https://news.stanford.edu/pr/2015/pr-worms-digest-plastics-092915.html

https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2019-12/su-msc121819.php

 

[Acro]

*UPDATE*

I'm on my 2nd generation of mealworms, that have been raised on mostly pure styrofoam, I say "mostly" because I would give small portions of other food every month or so, mainly for the meal beetles that started emerging. I did find that meal beetles will eat some styrofoam, but they don't survive well on it alone and I don't believe that they break it down or compost it, like the mealworms do.

This next time around, I will remove pupa and meal beetles into another container. I plan to feed the meal beetles normal fare (fish food, fruits, and I will attempt at seeing if they will compost leftovers from foods that I eat) while feeding the mealworms only on styrofoam.

I added about 100 more mealworms to the group (yesterday) to try and get 2 generations going at the same time.

Last of all, these links were sent to me, and I will now share them with you. They are about SuperWorms composting styrofoam!
https://www.the-scientist.com/news-opinion/beetle-larvae-can-survive-on-polystyrene-alone-67251
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0048969719352258

If you are using mealworms or superworms to compost styrofoam, post up your experience!