How fast do mealworms reproduce

I have bred mealworms, but for the couple of reptiles I have I can't keep up with how fast they multiply. Now I raise superworms. I'm sure the benefits would work for chickens as well.

They do breed a little slower. I have found carrots and kale work best for the "water" they need. Both are high in the vitamins my reptiles need and both "rot" with out mold or smell if that makes sense. Thanks to the Ramirez family and my friend Brandon for their insights into raising mealworms and super worms. And I hope some of you decide to give it a whirl yourself! It seems pretty easy, the worms don't smell, and it's very inexpensive once you get going.

Articles may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy. Raising your own mealworms for your backyard chickens isn't difficult with this clever set-up. Darkling beetle lays eggs which hatch in weeks. Larvae mealworms hatch and remain in this stage for weeks. Worms turn into pupae and begin the metamorphosis into a beetle which takes weeks. Top Drawer. Facebook Twitter Instagram YouTube. All rights reserved. Again, the duration of the life cycle will depend on the temperature the mealworms are stored.

The mealworm will stay in the larvae stage for about weeks. The duration of the pupa stage usually lasts around weeks.

Once the pupa turns into an adult beetle it will reproduce and lay eggs until the life cycle ends and the beetle dies. You will need to separate any eggs or larvae from the beetles. If you fail to separate them, the beetles will eat them.

Dead mealworms and beetles should be removed from the container and discarded. Continuing reading below for steps on maintaining your colony after eggs are laid. The mealworms, which are the larvae of the darkling beetle, will need 3 months or more to go through their life cycle and reproduce to make new mealworms.

They will change from larvae mealworm to pupae, then from pupae to mature beetles. The beetles will copulate and lay eggs in the substrate, which hatch 1 to 4 weeks later. While you wait for this process to take place, check the bin every day and take care of the mealworms by regulating the temperature, removing and discarding any dead mealworms or beetles and changing out the food.

Getting a second container is essential a few weeks into the process. Once the new larvae mealworms hatch from their eggs, you'll need to move all the beetles to the second container. If you fail to separate them, the beetles will feed on them. When you move the beetles to the second container, they will lay more eggs and continue the reproduction process. Prepare the second container the same way as you did for the first. Pick out the beetles from your initial colony and place them into the new second container.

The beetles won't bite and rarely fly. By using a two tray system, you should be able to provide a continuous supply of worms. Tip for separating beetles: you can catch live beetles by providing apple slices. The beetles will swarm to the apple - then just lift it and shake them off into the new container, swarm after swarm.

Once the life cycle has completed in the first bin, the bedding substrate will be depleted and become foul. The eggs will have hatched into larvae mealworms and you will need to pick them out in order to disinfect the first container. The bedding must be discarded, the container emptied and cleaned, and a fresh supply of vegetables made available for the worms. When it comes time to clean the second container, you may have to sift out the bean-shaped white eggs from the bedding before cleaning.

The egg hatches into larva, commonly known as a mealworm. Larvae burrow below the surface of the grain and undergo a series of molts, shedding their exoskeleton. The last molt occurs about three months after the egg stage. Newly molted larva are white, and the exoskeleton has not hardened so they may be more digestible. The fully grown larvae mealworms are golden brown and a little over one inch long. The larvae come to the surface of the substrate, turn soft and plump, and then transform into naked white pupae that turns yellowish brown.

The pupae don't eat or move much. Fun factoids for all the family Find out more about the nature and wildlife outside your window. Breed your own mealworms. How to culture mealworms It can become quite expensive to constantly buy mealworms, so you might want to grow your own. For a constant supply of mealworms, prepare a large circular biscuit tin as follows: Punch small holes in the lid for ventilation, place a layer of old hessian sacking in the bottom and sprinkle fairly thickly with bran.

You can put a raw cabbage leaf on top if you like. Keep the tin at room temperature, not in hot sun. Introduce two or three hundred mealworms into the prepared tin. After a few weeks the mealworms will turn into creamy pupae, then into little black beetles.

The beetles will lay eggs which hatch into mealworms and so on. Crop as necessary. Replace the bread, potato and cabbage as necessary. If you want to start new colonies, prepare another tin and transfer some bits of dry bread these will carry beetle eggs from the flourishing colony. How you can help Not quite ready to breed your own mealworms? Rearing techniques Place 20 adult beetles on a piece of moist blotting paper overnight.

Food: wheatfeed 10 ounces; rolled oats 10 ounces; yeasts 2 ounces. This food mixture will produce about adult mealworms in days from 10 females with 10 males. However, each female can lay about eggs. Share this page Facebook Facebook Created with Sketch.