Mealworm Pupa: Everything You Need To Know For Raising Them

Mealworms are food for worm-eating animals in the food chain, such as reptiles, and birds.

Mealworms are the larvae form of tiny darkling beetles with a hardback shell and sometimes pointy heads. Read on to learn tips about raising mealworms at home.

If you keep any pets like fish, birds, reptiles, or chickens, you must keep these worms stored at all times for their diet. This carries additional costs which might be more expensive than maintaining your own colony.

Start saving money on mealworm production. You don't need to go anywhere else to learn how to do it yourself. With proper attention and guidance, you will soon be growing these tiny darkling beetles on your own like a pro!

All you need is the number of mealworms that will best suit your needs and a mealworm breeder kit, which you will find at online stores as well as some pet stores. Make sure you do not go for too small a container and instead opt for a big container with a plastic cover.

To prevent mites and the formation of a worm bed, line the container with petroleum jelly.

Mites look like fine sawdust, and mite infestation can ruin an entire colony of mealworms in no time.

Regularly sprinkle fish flakes, bone meal, wheat germ, soybean meal, finely ground egg shells, and wheat flour to provide proper nutrition to the mealworms. Once they have attained the desired size, the mealworms can be fed to your pet.

After reading about the life cycle of mealworms, also read about earthworm reproduction, and ladybug pupa.

How long does it take a mealworm pupa to turn into a beetle?

Also known as Tenebrio molitor, this species has the same life cycle as any living species. They turn from larvae to a stage known as a pupa, in which they remain inactive before they completely transform into a darkling adult beetle.

They do not have an anus nor a mouth at this stage, so they don't eat, and as a consequence, they don't expel any feces either. That is why they are considered inactive.

Mealworms have a lifecycle that is not too complicated since there are only four of them, namely egg, larva, pupa, and adult. The pupa stage will last only a few weeks, usually one to three weeks, but it might go over nine months if it happens during the winter.

This is where they start forming the rest of their body parts, since they already have legs, but they don't yet work.

For the duration of their metamorphosis, they will also appear yellow-white and in the shape of a C. Of course, you will need to have the right growing conditions and take good care of them. There are many reports of mealworm pupa dying due to lack of moisture.

Mealworm Pupa Care

It is important to understand the right requirements for raising mealworms at each stage. Doing this will keep your mealworms healthy and safe for successful breeding.

Some things like keeping them in a warm and dark place will need to be done at each stage, along with keeping them in different containers and away from wild carnivore beetles at each stage.

Growing pupae specifically must be grown in a different container if you are planning to fully grow them into beetles. Growing them into beetles is rewarding as they can lay eggs and you will not have to buy the worms again.

So depending on your goals, there will be different steps to take care of in each phase. Although at this stage you won't have to worry about food because they do not eat, it's more important to prevent them from dying.

The ideal temperature for mealworms is above 62 F (16.6 C). Anything below this will delay their growth by weeks or even cause death, which is why it is important to keep them warm.

There is a way to make them grow faster, and that is by keeping them in a dark environment. Moisture is also very important for mealworms. They are not particularly fond of dry areas, so you'll want to moisten foods in the container, such as apple slices, potatoes, and similar foods.

But make sure that you don't add water to keep them moist. Dead mealworms should be removed from the container.

The materials that you can use for breeding containers are glass, metal, or plastic. You will also need a tool to make holes, wheat flour, wheat bran, dry brewer's yeast, fruits, and vegetables.

Mealworm Pupa Stage

Mealworm beetles have four different stages in total, the first being the egg stage and the last being the adult stage. It is important to understand each stage to better approach your breeding goals, as some people only need the worms, while others might need the beetles to create new mealworm colonies.

Egg Stage: At this stage, the egg is about the size of a grain of salt or less. You might not be able to see it, but it will look like a white bean.

It will get covered by substrate, dust, and dirt and will take around one to four weeks to hatch. That is the time for mealworm hatching to take place, yet this will be affected depending on the room temperature.

Larval Stage: After one to four weeks, it will start looking like a brownish larva, and this stage takes around 8-10 weeks in total, growing by 1-1.5 in (2.5–3.7 cm) each time. At least 20-30 molt occurs during this time as its exoskeleton is hard during this time.

The mealworm will be shedding its skin so that the harder shell falls off, allowing it to grow.

Once this process is done, you will see a white and soft shell, and the exoskeleton will harden very quickly. Also, during this time, your mealworms will need to eat a lot to restore their energy.

Pupa Stage: Mealworm beetles might look dead during this stage as they do not move at all or eat. You can touch it to see if it will wiggle. They have a yellow or white colored body during the stage and go through their last molt.

The only formed limbs during this time are their legs and wing buds that do not function yet. This process takes up to one to three weeks. If you see your mealworm pupa turning black, it is probably dead or dying.

The adult beetle stage is the one when the mealworms start living their adult lives. They will look white with a soft shell at first, after which they turn brown, and ultimately black with wings, although they can't fly.

Mating and reproduction will begin in two weeks when they lay eggs. You can expect new adult beetles when the lifecycle is completed again. Live beetles will live only for three months before they die.

What do mealworm pupas look like?

Mealworms do not have the best looks, and for many people, it might be a gross sight. They are not wrong, because most people see this as an infestation in their house and it might contaminate their food.

Mealworm pupa will look like most worms, although they are specifically C-shaped.

Yellow mealworms are also a common sight, if not white.

In their larvae stage, you will get the best look at what they look like, yet for some people, it might be a gross sight, which is understandable as sometimes, and for most people, they are not trying to breed it, but it is an infestation for them and they might get worried about it contaminating their food.

So instead of looking at it with benefits, they will probably call pest control to get rid of the problem.

Here at Kidadl, we have carefully created lots of interesting family-friendly facts for everyone to enjoy! If you liked our suggestions for mealworm pupa, then why not take a look at cockroach larvae or beetle facts?