Meal Worms

About five years ago, while we were doing the morning feeding, we found some strange worms in the granary. We caught a few to show them to Mom to see what they were. She said they were meal worms!

We eagerly got an old container and lid, put some grain in it, and went down to catch some meal worms. We caught a lot of them. We brought them up to the house and put them in with the meal worms Mom had been raising.

We gave them a piece of fruit to provide them water. We give them grains, like wheat or oats, for food. We kept them in the closet because the worms like the dark. Every day we would check them, and if their fruit was gone, we would give them more.

 

One morning, I went to check the meal worms and when I opened the lid, I saw something white lying on the grain. I watched it for a couple of days. A few days later I found a beetle crawling around. I was very surprised!

 

It takes about a month for a meal worm to turn into a beetle. After the beetle lays its eggs, a couple days later the bug dies. It takes the eggs about a week to hatch. The little worms go out and start eating. As they get bigger, they shed their exoskeleton. 

They will do this about twenty times as they grow. Then they turn into a pupa.

After about a week, the pupa will slowly turn into a beetle. Then the cycle starts over again.

We use meal worms for fishing, for feeding our lizards on Critter Corner, and for salamanders. People also use them for feeding pets and wild birds. Some people eat them. They are a good source of protein.  I wouldn’t want to eat ours!

I think its so amazing how little eggs can turn into worms, then turn into beetles. I am glad God created things like the meal worm, so we can explore and learn more about His wonderful works.

~Jonah