What are mealworms?

1. What is a mealworm?

• In fact, what we generally call “mealworm” is not a worm but it the larvae of a flour beetle. 
• The Latin name of the beetle is Tenebrio molitor. It belongs to the Coleoptera order just as the ladybug or the rose chafer. 
• The distinctive attribute of the Coleoptera is the hardened front pair of wing call “elytra”. 
• The mealworm is a non-invasive species and can be found almost everywhere on the planet.

2. Where does mealworm generally live?

• They prefer living in the dark and enjoy living in relatively high density in closed space. 
  • Ideal environmental condition 
    • Temperature ranging from 26 to 29 degrees
    • The approximate humidity of 70%.
• The Hive is designed with their preferred natural habitat in mind so they can live happily, ever after in an optimal and precisely controlled environment to grow and breed at an elevated level.
  • From understanding their preferred living density, lifecycle differences, nocturnal feeding habits, down to the type of material that they would prefer to live in, we had recreated a Hive.
• Read more information about the Hive here.

3. Can you tell me more about the mealworms lifecycle?

Tenebrio molitor is a holometabolous insect. It means that the life cycle goes through 4 distinctive stages:

• It all starts with an egg that hatches into a tiny larva after 1 to 2 weeks. This tiny larva will grow through several “instars” (development steps) into a mealworm of the size you like to eat (ca. 3cm long). With every instar, the mealworm peels off its old skin in order to grow. After 10 to 14 weeks with 9 to 25 instars, it then turns into a pupae. For approximately one week, it will stay immobile. As the pupae evolve, you’ll start to distinguish the premises of the future eyes, legs, and wings. At the end of this period, the beetle is ready to emerge. The beetle will live a few weeks and a female can lay between 200 and 300 eggs during its lifespan.

4. Does the mealworm bite?

• We have handled thousands of mealworms and they are totally friendly and cute animals!

5. Does the beetle fly?

• We have handled thousands of beetles and usually they never fly. Still in very rare situations it happend that a beetle flies up for a few centimeters.

6. Could the worms escape?

• We designed the Hive™ so that the worms will be very well contained in the device and can not escape. That being said, they are still living beings and in some very unlikely case, it could happen that one or the other one finds its way out somehow. But don’t worry, unless they are a huge hoard, they won’t start breeding somewhere unwanted in your house and they are also not that hard to catch. They are all in all very lovely beings, relax!