Meal Worms

Mealworms are found in many kinds of cereal meal, hence the name mealworm. Farmers often find them on the barn floor under sacks of grain where the worms have accumulated and grown after sifting out of the grain bags at very tiny stages.
Mealworms are one of the easiest of food insects to rear but are a very low quality food item. With their hard shells or exoskeletons, as larvae and adults, they should be used sparingly as a food item. Mealworms vary in nutritional values depending on how they have been kept and what they have been fed.

The "common mealworm" (Tenebrio molitor) is probably the most widely raised feeder insect available.
There are four stages in Tenebrio's life cycle. They are egg, larva, pupa and beetle. Tenebrio's eggs are white, bean-shaped and approximately 1.2 mm (1/20 inch) long. Tenebrio larvae (mealworms) grow to about 32 mm (1.25 inches) long and weigh about 0.140 to 0.150g (.005 ounce) at the largest point of the larval stage. The better the cultural conditions the larger they may become before they pupate. Pupae are first soft and white, turning to yellow as they mature. The adult is a dark brown beetle and has more chitin and less nutrition than the two previous stages.

The “lesser mealworm” (Alphitobius diaperinus). Adult lesser mealworms are dark brown or black in colour and about 1/4 inch long. The wireworm-like larvae are yellowish brown, up to 3/4 inch long (Fig. 11). Lesser mealworms spend most of their time in the manure or litter. Adults feed on damp and mouldy grain and are especially abundant in areas with spilled grain and high moisture.
The life cycle is temperature dependent. There is a marked reduction in egg hatch below 70°F, and development time from egg to adult increases with decreasing temperature. Development requires 42 days at 100°F, 58 days at 80°F, and 97 days at 60°F. Eggs are laid in cracks and crevices in the manure or litter and hatch in 3 to 6 days. Most larvae develop through five to nine instars, the number increasing with lower temperatures. The last larval instar pupates in drier areas of the manure or litter, in cracks and crevices or in building insulation. Small round holes about 1/4 inch in diameter are the first signs of damage. The pupae stage lasts 3 to 10 days. Adults live three months to a year.

Warning
Giant mealworms, they are merely the "common mealworm" that has been treated with an insect growth hormone to discourage them from morphing into beetles, thus they grow significantly larger. Some will morph into beetles, however they are sterile. This growth hormone was developed for fly control in dairy and horse farms. While this treatment would not adversely affect those worms used for fishing, it is strongly recommended that they should not be used as a live food source for reptiles, mammals or birds.

METHOD

What you'll need:
quart size translucent soup container & lid
utility knife
mesh fabric
sunflower seeds
higher-grade dog food (i.e. Neutro, IAMS, etc.)

What you'll do:
Using a utility knife, cult out a 1.5 - 2" diameter on the lid to act as a ventilation hole
Add the dog food and sunflower seeds to the container until it's about 2/3rd full.
Add a starter culture of larvae. You can also use the moths, but make sure to add it outside of your home.
Place the mesh fibre on top before closing the lid.
Keep the culture in room temperature, out of direct sunlight and high humidity.
Add more culture medium (sunflower seeds and dog food when getting low).

Harvesting
The easiest way to harvest mealworms is to search directly under the top layer of paper which usually contains the most number of mealworms. When the time comes to clean out the colony I found a lettuce drainer to make a great sieve for catching the worms. The entire contents of the bucket should be sieved and the mealworms moved to a new fresh bucket and the old bran kept for around 2 more weeks (because all the eggs will have hatched by then ) .This is then checked one more time before being disguarded .
The best mealworms to use are ones which have just shedded and their shell has not hardened again yet. These look white in colour. Many reptile keepers also choose to squash their heads before feeding them to their lizards and then offering them with long forceps. Dusting mealworms with a reptile supplement is also recommended. This is done by placing them in a bag with some supplement powder such as "Reptivite" and shaking them until they are coated.
If you find you have too many worms of a desirable size at the same time. They can be kept in the fridge in a dry bran mixture and covered in cling wrap. They should be warmed up for one day about every 2 weeks and given the chance to eat carrot before returning to the refrigerator . This will keep them at that size for up to 2 months.

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