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The mealworm, commonly known as the breadworm, is a small beetle belonging to the Tenebrionidae family. The adult form measures between 1.4 and 1.9 cm in length and has a dark brown coloration. The mature larvae are larger, reaching lengths of 2.9 to 3.3 cm, and they appear brownish in color. The eggs are white, oval-shaped, and roughly the size of a sesame seed. Under favorable temperature and humidity conditions, mealworms can complete 2 to 3 generations per year, with overlapping life cycles. They do not hibernate and remain active throughout the year.
Adult mealworms begin laying eggs 3 to 5 days after emerging from their pupal stage. Each female can lay between 280 and 370 eggs during her lifetime. Female adults typically live for 34 to 127 days, while males live slightly shorter, ranging from 39 to 82 days. The larval stage lasts between 76 to 201 days, depending on environmental conditions. At temperatures between 26 and 30°C, the pupal stage takes about 6 to 8 days to complete.
Mealworm larvae are social creatures and often gather in groups. They thrive at room temperature (around 13°C) but can still grow when the temperature rises above 5°C. However, temperatures above 35°C can lead to high mortality rates. Both larvae and adults are known to be aggressive; when food is scarce, they may even cannibalize each other. In some cases, larvae have been observed biting one another. To prevent this, it's important to separate insects, eggs, and adults of different ages into individual containers.
During their growth, the larvae’s body surface may turn white before they molt. They shed their exoskeleton multiple times, typically once every 4 to 6 days, with a total of six molts during the larval stage. When the larvae reach a length of 2 to 3 cm, usually around day 50, they are sterilized in the feed. This process involves removing the gut content by gently inverting the head in the food and moving it back and forth to extract the phlegm.
At room temperatures of 20°C or higher, the pupae develop into adults within a week. Newly emerged adults have soft, white wings and are initially pale in color. Over the next 1 to 2 days, their wings harden and darken to a deep brown. Mealworms are primarily nocturnal, moving quickly along surfaces but rarely flying. They start laying eggs about a week after they emerge as adults.
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