CATDOLL : CATDOLL: What to do if mealworms turn black

1. What to do if mealworms turn black

The blackening of mealworms may be due to soft rot. The following treatment methods can be used as a reference: use 0.25 grams of chloramphenicol powder mixed with 0.5 kilograms of feed to feed the mealworms. At the same time, keep the room dry and ventilated, reduce feeding or stop feeding green feed. The feed must be clean and fresh, and the blackened mealworms should be picked out and isolated for breeding as soon as possible to avoid mutual infection, while maintaining a reasonable stocking density.

2. Why do mealworms always die? How can we solve this problem?

1. Mites:

[Diagnosis] Mites are very harmful to mealworms, causing them to be thin, slow to grow, with low egg hatching rates and reduced reproductive capacity. They usually occur from July to September when the temperature is too high, the feed temperature is high, and there are mites in the feed.

[Treatment] Strictly prevent feed from being contaminated by mites. If conditions permit, steam bran and bran for 20 minutes to disinfect. Keep indoor air circulation and lower the temperature. Especially in summer rainy days when the temperature rises too high, try not to feed or feed less wet green feed. When mites are found, take the feed to the sun for 10 minutes in time.

2. Dryness disease:

[Diagnosis] After becoming sick, the mealworm's head and tail dry up, and eventually its entire body dries up and it dies.

[Treatment] In dry and hot seasons, add green feed or sprinkle water on the ground in time to cool it down.

3. Soft rot:

[Diagnosis] The diseased insects move slowly, have watery feces, their bodies turn black and soft, and finally die. This disease often occurs in rainy seasons, when the indoor air is humid, the feed is too wet, the stocking density is too high, or the insects are injured.

[Treatment] If soft worms are found, they should be taken out in time, the leftover food should be removed, green feed should be stopped, and the indoor temperature should be adjusted. Chloramphenicol or chloramphenicol should be mixed with wheat bran for feeding.

3. Causes of Mass Death of Mealworms

How to prevent and control mealworm rot (soft rot)

(1) This disease often occurs in rainy seasons with high humidity and low temperature. The air in the breeding place is humid, and it is difficult to screen the insects, which causes excessive force to injure the insects. In addition, poor management leads to contamination of feces and feed, which causes the disease.

(2) Symptoms: The diseased insects are slow to move, have a decreased appetite, produce fewer offspring, and excrete black feces. In severe cases, the insects turn black, become soft, rot, and die (see color pictures 68 and 69). The black feces of the diseased insects will also contaminate other insects. If not handled in time, it may even cause the death of all the insects in the box. It is a relatively serious disease and is also the main disease to be prevented in summer.

(3) Prevention and control: If this situation is discovered, you should immediately reduce or stop feeding green vegetables, clean up the excrement of pests and diseases in time, open doors and windows for ventilation and dehumidification, and pick out pests and diseases that have become soft and black in time. If it is cloudy and rainy for a long time and the indoor humidity is high and the temperature is low, you can burn a coal stove to heat up and drive out moisture.

Drug control measures: 0.25 grams of chloramphenicol or oxytetracycline can be mixed with 250 grams of bean flour or corn flour per box and fed to the pigs. When the situation improves, you can change to wheat bran mixed with green feed and start selling it.

4. How to treat mealworms that turn black and die? ? It’s urgent? ?

Soft rot: The insects move slowly, have watery feces, and their bodies turn black, soft, and rotten, eventually dying. Causes: humid indoor air, too wet feed, too high stocking density, or injury to the insects. Prevention and control methods: Take out the soft insects as soon as they are found, remove the leftover food, stop feeding green feed, and adjust the indoor humidity. Mix 0.25 grams of chloramphenicol or chloramphenicol with 250 grams of wheat bran and feed.

Pick out the dead insects, sterilize the live insects, and lower the temperature

You can also search for "Yellow Mealworm Home" on the Internet to learn about the specific situation and breeding techniques.

5. My mealworms keep dying. Why?

Don't feed mealworms with watery food often....Also, don't let mealworms touch water...because they will die easily...If mealworms turn black, take out the dead ones in time...because mealworms will eat their own kind...this will cause infection...

Try to feed mainly dry feed. If you want to feed fruits and vegetables, choose those with less water and low sugar (it’s not that sweet food is bad, sweet food is more likely to spoil and breed bacteria, attracting the attention of fruit flies). The more ventilated the environment, the better.

Improper breeding methods. The temperature is generally high now. Pay attention to cooling down.

Mealworms have strong disease resistance, but they will also develop diseases if they are improperly managed or the environment changes suddenly. Dry rot and soft rot are the most common diseases in the town: 1. Dry rot: This disease often occurs in the hot and dry summer. The diseased insects dry up from head to tail and their body color turns black. Prevention and control methods: feed more green vegetables; 2. Soft rot: This disease often occurs in the rainy season. The air is humid, the feed is moldy and deteriorated, and the insects are injured and infected by bacteria. The diseased insects move slowly, their bodies turn black and soft, and they rot and die. Prevention and control methods: Keep the box ventilated and dry, reduce or stop feeding green feed, do not feed moldy and deteriorated feed, clean up leftover bait and feces, isolate the diseased insects in time, and maintain a reasonable density.

There is something wrong with the environment or breeding method

I don't know, I haven't fed it.