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Thread: Proof of life.

  1. #1
    Senior Dog janedoe's Avatar
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    Proof of life.

    They're alive!! I left the mealworms alone for a few days because I wanted them to get settled and I was checking them five times a day. Opened the tub today and found this - before and after. They eat a LOT. Still can't see them but I bet they're there. Or the tub is possessed.
    Attached Thumbnails Attached Thumbnails -mealworms_011018-jpg   -mealworms_011818-jpg  

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    Wow....they seem to be rather messy eaters.....but then, they're WORMS!!! Eeeek!

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    Senior Dog janedoe's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Mollysmomma View Post
    Wow....they seem to be rather messy eaters.....but then, they're WORMS!!! Eeeek!
    Actually, that's frass. Mealworm poop. Very good for fertilizer. I just had no idea that they could decimate the grains and seeds that quickly. It's intense.

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    You sure they didn't crawl out of the tub?

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    Senior Dog Snowshoe's Avatar
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    That would have made an interesting time lapse video. How big do they get?
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    Senior Dog janedoe's Avatar
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    They aren't true worms. They're the larvae of the darkling beetle. Neither stage can crawl up slick surfaces like Rubbermaid, unlike my true worms, red wigglers. Darkling beetles are not native to North America and should not be released into "the wild" (which is probably your backyard). Red wigglers can crawl up anything which, if you don't like worms, is not a good thing.

    Which brings us to how big they get. Very good question. I bought dried mealworms from Tractor Supply. Commercially marketed dried mealworms are from China where they're probably laughing because we actually buy them. These dried mealworms are pretty big. I would say 3/4". The live ones I got are significantly smaller and not dried which would presumably shrink them. So now I'm wondering if those "mealworms" I got from China are actually the larvae of darkling beetles. Or the larvae of something else. I'm just saying. It's a little suspicious. I suspect that birds eat the larvae of just about anything though so probably no harm done.

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    OK...so if they're not real mealworms, what are the chances that they crawled away?

    I've had larvae make an appearance in dried corn when I used to feed the squirrels and I had to put those 50 lb. bags of corn into sealed plastic bags within the Rubbermaid trash cans I kept all feed in because they'd otherwise end up all over the house (yeah, not just the basement).

    If you don't see them in the tub, you might want to look around. Sure hope they're in there.

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    Senior Dog janedoe's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by SunDance View Post
    OK...so if they're not real mealworms, what are the chances that they crawled away?

    I've had larvae make an appearance in dried corn when I used to feed the squirrels and I had to put those 50 lb. bags of corn into sealed plastic bags within the Rubbermaid trash cans I kept all feed in because they'd otherwise end up all over the house (yeah, not just the basement).

    If you don't see them in the tub, you might want to look around. Sure hope they're in there.
    Well, there's a lid on the container and just a few airholes in the top. I can hear them moving through the feed. I just don't want to disturb everything to find them. They were traumatized and need some time to themselves.

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    Yeah...I had a lid on those trash cans (not airtight).

    If you can hear them (eek!), that's a good thing. Airholes are good gateways.

 



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