Meal Worms

Today I was cleaning and sorting the meal worms at the wildlife Center. And believe me this is no easy feat. To start off with...they have not been cleaned and sorted in a while. A long while.

The meal worm goes through 4 stages much like that of a butterfly, egg turns into worm which turns into pupae which in turn becomes a beetle. The beetles lay egg and the whole cycle is started again.

Meal worms are reared as a protein rich source of food for monkeys, lesser bush babies and birds. In some cases they are also used for fishing and as a food source for pet fish.

Although meal worms may be purchased at most pet shops it is an intriguing project to do yourself. Which is why we ended up doing just that. Part of our Second year curriculum is learning the ability to cultivate various food sources with the aim at sustainability.

There is lots of facets to this beetle that makes for intresting study;
The female beetle may lay up to 500 eggs in one go. It takes about 10 days for all the eggs to hatch after which the larva or worm will grow continuasly for about 40 days, while it sheds its exoskeleton 12-19 times. The worm feeds off vegetables, dead insects, oatmeal and bran to gain moisture and nutrients. The larva then curls up forming a pupae which stays that way for 20 days thereafter becoming a beetle. The adult beetle survives for about 80 days.

The beetle of the meal worm is considered a pest in South Africa.