1 / 14

Mealworms:

Mealworms:. The Life Cycle and Test Review. Classification:. Kingdom: Animalia (animals), Phylum: Arthropoda ( arthropods ), Class: Insecta ( insects ), Order: Coleoptera ( beetles ), Family: Tenebrionidae, Genus: Tenebrio, Species: T. molitor. PLC 23. Mealworm.

tate
Download Presentation

Mealworms:

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. Mealworms: The Life Cycle and Test Review

  2. Classification: Kingdom: Animalia (animals), Phylum: Arthropoda (arthropods), Class: Insecta (insects), Order: Coleoptera (beetles), Family: Tenebrionidae, Genus: Tenebrio, Species: T. molitor. PLC 23

  3. Mealworm • The mealworm is NOT a worm. It is the larval stage (grub) of the yellow mealworm beetle, also called the darkling beetle (Tenebrio molitor). • Although the grub looks a bit like a worm, the mealworm has six small, jointed legs. • Both the larva and the beetle are nocturnal (active at night), but they are also active during the day. PLC 23

  4. Diet/Enemies • Both the adults and the larvae are scavengers that eat grains (hence the name mealworm) and some seedlings. Because of this, it is considered a pest. • They also eat decaying material, like decomposing animals and dead plants. • They get all the water they need from the food they eat. • Mealworms are eaten by many animals, including many birds, rodents, spiders, lizards, and some other beetles. PLC 23

  5. Life Cycle of a Mealworm • The female darkling beetle • Eggs • Mealworms • (the larval stage) • 4. The pupa PLC 23

  6. The mealworm undergoes completemetamorphosis PLC 23

  7. Eggs • The tiny, white, bean-shaped eggs are about 2 mm long by .9 mm wide. • The female darkling beetle lays hundreds of tiny, white, oval eggs, which hatch into tiny mealworms (the larval stage) • It takes from 4 to 19 days to hatch. PLC 23

  8. Larvae • Are dark yellow with brown bands • They are up to about 35 mm long, have a segmented body, six legs (towards the front of the body) and two antennae. • Each mealworm eats a tremendous amount and grows a lot, molting (shedding its exoskeleton) many times as it grows PLC 23

  9. The pupa • Is white/cream with a large head and a pointed tail (it darkens as it grows). • It then enters the pupal stage (this stage lasts from 2-3 weeks up to 9 months, if the pupal stage over-winters). • The pupa does not eat and seems inactive, but it is transforming itself into an adult PLC 23

  10. Adult • This beetle has a hard exoskeleton, six jointed legs, two antennae, compound eyes, and a body divided into three parts (the head, thorax, and abdomen). • The adult is from 12 to 25 mm long and is dark brown. • After pupating, a white adult darkwing beetle emerges from the pupa -- it soon turns brown and then almost black. The adult lives for a few months PLC 23

  11. Life span Mealworm The entire life cycle takes about a year. What is a metamorphis? PLC 23

  12. TASK Question 1 • The pictures show the stages in the life cycle of a beetle. What would be the correct sequence for the development of the beetle? • A Q, S, R, T • B R, T, Q, S • C S, R, Q, T • D T, S, R, Q PLC 23

  13. TASK Question 2 PLC 23

  14. TASK Question 3 PLC 23

More Related