CATDOLL : CATDOLL: The difference between mealworms and barley worms

The difference between mealworms and barley worms

Size: The mealworm is 3-4 times the size of the yellow mealworm.

Seed source: The sources of mealworms are distributed all over the country, and the sources of barley worms come from Southeast Asia.

Living habits: The optimum temperature for mealworms is 25-29℃, and they rarely move below 10℃. Barleyworms move and feed at 13℃, and the optimum temperature for their growth and development is 24-30℃.

Life cycle: Yellow mealworms generally last 40-60 days, and mealworms generally last 100-130 days.

Survival rate: The survival rate of mealworms is higher.

1. Body shape difference

The common name of mealworm is mealworm, while the common name of mealworm is super mealworm or super mealworm, which shows that mealworm is much bigger. The whole body of mealworm is yellow like bread, and it is white when it just sheds its skin; the body size of mealworm is 3-4 times that of mealworm, and its color is dark brown and light brown.

2. Difference in Seed Sources

Mealworm farming has a long history in my country, and the seed sources are spread all over the country; the seed sources of mealworms come from Southeast Asia, and there are very few wild mealworms in my country. Currently, there are only a few farms in my country that have a small amount of seed sources, and the breeding techniques are not very mature.

3. Differences in living habits

The optimum temperature for mealworms is 25-29℃. They rarely move below 10℃ and are in danger of being frozen to death or burned to death at temperatures below 0℃ or above 35℃. Barleyworms like to cluster together and move around and feed at 13℃. The suitable temperature for their growth and development is 24-30℃. Temperatures below 5℃ or above 35℃ can be fatal.

4. Differences in life cycle

The life cycle of adult mealworms is generally 40-60 days; the life cycle of adult barleyworms is generally 100-130 days, and the number of eggs laid by adults is 3-5 times that of mealworms.

5. Difference in survival rate

The physique of the mealworm is particularly good and it is much more durable than the yellow mealworm. The pupal emergence rate of the mealworm is between 95% and 100%. The pupal emergence rate of the yellow mealworm is only 60% to 70%, and rarely reaches above 70%.

The growth cycle of greenhouse mealworms

Yellow mealworm is a completely metamorphosed insect, that is, four metamorphosis: adult, egg, larva, and pupa. The adult body is long and flat, 1.4-1.8 cm long, dark brown with a metallic luster, the head is pronotum type, and the two sides of the lip base do not exceed the tactile base. During the process of eclosion, the head, thorax, and legs of the adult are light brown, and the abdomen and elytra are milky white. At first, the insect body is tender and unwilling to move. After 4-5 days, the color becomes darker, the elytra become hard, flexible but not flying, crawling faster, and after careful feeding, the adult groups mate and lay eggs. The adult lays 2-4 eggs each time, and each female lays about 300 eggs, which are scattered on the sieve at the bottom of the feed. The adult stage is about 50 days. The eggs are white and oval, about 1 mm in size. The egg stage is about 8-10 days. The larvae are brown-yellow, 2-3 cm long, with obvious body segments, 3 pairs of thoracic legs, and a pair of tail protrusions on the 9th abdominal segment. The larvae are yellow-white when hatched, gradually turning brown-yellow. They shed their skin once every 9 days on average, each molting forming one age, and they shed their skin 7 times in total. When they molt for the last time, they pupate on the surface of the feed. The larval stage is about 80 days. The pupae are white, then turn white-yellow, with obvious body segments, and the pupal stage is 12-15 days.

1. Breeding conditions

To breed mealworms, we must first solve the problems of breeding insects, feed, equipment, etc.

(I) Breeding worms The most important thing about raising mealworms is to have breeding worms. Adult larvae, pupae, and adults can all be used as breeding worms. When the worms are raised to different stages, carefully select pupae and adults according to the breeding technology of mealworms, remove diseased insects, screen eggs, and make each stage reproduce synchronously to achieve purification and rejuvenation. After buying adult larvae, put them in a wooden tray filled with wheat bran and feed them with fresh vegetables. Carefully observe the pupation situation, put the sieve tray in the wooden tray filled with feed, and wait for the pupae to emerge into adults. If you also buy pupae at this time, put them together with the pupae that have emerged within two days. Put every 0.5 kg of pupae in a sieve tray filled with wheat bran, and then put them in a wooden tray filled with feed, number them and put them on the shelf, wait for them to emerge, and pay attention to removing dead pupae. If you buy adults, put them in a sieve tray filled with feed, and screen out the adults and change the tray every 7 days. The sieved feed is mixed with eggs, which are placed in a wooden tray and continue to hatch. Insects of all stages that have been carefully selected and raised can be used as breeding insects, but it is best to use adult larvae as breeding insects.

(II) Feed The main feed for mealworms is wheat bran, which can also be supplemented with bran (cornmeal is too fine and airtight, so it cannot be used as mealworm feed). Vegetables are mainly cabbage, radish, cabbage and other leafy vegetables. These feeds can meet the insect's needs for protein, vitamins, trace elements and water. In order to purify and rejuvenate the population and accelerate reproduction and growth, a small amount of glucose powder, fish meal, etc. can be added to the feed. Every 0.5 kg of mealworms can eat 1.5 kg of wheat bran and 3 kg of vegetables in one generation cycle.

(III) Equipment

1. You must have a breeding room to breed mealworms. The breeding room must be light-permeable and ventilated, and it must be heated and insulated in winter. The size of the breeding room depends on the number of mealworms to be bred. Generally, 300-500 trays can be raised in a room of 20 square meters.

2. The wooden tray for feeding mealworms is made of drawer-shaped wooden trays, which are generally rectangular, with specifications of 50 cm long, 40 cm wide and 8 cm high. The board thickness is 1.5 cm, and the bottom is nailed with fiberboard. The sieve tray is also rectangular, and it should be placed in the wooden tray. The specifications are 45 cm, 35 cm and 6 cm. The board thickness is 1.5 cm, and the bottom is nailed with 12-mesh iron sieve and three-ply board strips. The wood for making the feeding tray is preferably soft miscellaneous wood, and it has no peculiar smell. In order to prevent the worms from crawling out, plastic strips should be attached to the four frames of the feeding tray.

3. Place the wooden rack for feeding trays. Make wooden racks according to the feeding amount and the number of feeding trays. Use square wood to connect and fix the wooden racks to prevent them from tilting or falling. Then you can place the feeding trays on the racks in order.

4. The sieve plates and sieves can be made of iron sieves of different sizes. The 12-mesh large-hole sieve can screen insect eggs. The 30-mesh medium-hole sieve can screen insect feces. The 60-mesh small-hole sieve can screen 1-2 instar larvae.

5. The temperature inside the breeding room should be kept between 15-25 degrees Celsius in both winter and summer. If the temperature is below 10 degrees Celsius, the insects will not eat or grow. If the temperature is above 30 degrees Celsius, the insects will burn to death due to heat. The humidity should be kept between 60-70%, and the ground should not be too wet. Heating should be provided in winter. If no breeding is done in winter, the insects can overwinter naturally. Ventilation should be provided in summer. A thermometer and a hygrometer should be prepared indoors.

2. Breeding Technology

Describe them in order according to the insect stage.

(I) The process of pupae emerging from adults takes about 3-7 days. The head, chest, legs, and wings emerge first, and the abdomen and tail emerge later. Because the pupae are selected for emergence at the same time, they can all be completely emerged within a few days. The newly emerged adults are very tender and not very active. After about 5 days, the body color becomes darker and the elytra become hard. Male and female adults usually gather in the dark when mating, and the mating time is relatively long. When laying eggs, the tail of the female insect is inserted into the sieve hole to lay eggs. It is best not to stir it at will during this period. When a layer of eggs is found attached to the bottom of the sieve plate, the plate can be changed. At this time, the adult insects are screened and placed in another plate containing feed, and the dead insects are removed. The egg plate is changed every 5-7 days. The survival period of adults is about 50 days. Adults in the egg-laying period need a lot of nutrition and water, so wheat bran and vegetables must be added in time, and fish meal can also be added. If the nutrition is insufficient, the adults will bite and kill each other, causing losses.

(ii) Egg stage adults lay eggs in a wooden tray containing feed. Replace the wooden tray with eggs and put it on the shelf. Larvae will hatch naturally. Pay attention to observation and do not turn it over to avoid damaging the eggs or the hatching larvae. When larval skin appears on the surface of the feed, the first instar worm has been born.

(III) Larval stage The period from egg hatching to larvae and before pupation is called the larval stage, and larvae of all ages are the best feed for Chinese forest frogs.

The tray where the adults lay eggs, after 7-9 days of hatching, when the molted body is more than 0.5 cm long, add wheat bran and fresh vegetables. Put 1 kg of larvae in each wooden tray. The density should not be too large to prevent the larvae from biting and killing each other due to insufficient feed and squeezing. As the larvae grow up, separate the trays in time.

Wheat bran is the main feed for larvae and also their habitat. Therefore, the feed should be kept at a natural temperature. Under normal circumstances, when the temperature is high, the larvae are mostly active on the surface of the feed, and when the temperature is low, they burrow into the lower layer to live. The thickness of the feed in the wooden tray should be within 5 cm. When the feed gradually decreases, use a sieve to sift out the insect feces and add new feed. When sieving feces for 1-2 instar larvae, a 60-mesh sieve should be used to prevent the larvae from leaking through the sieve holes. Prepare a wooden tray for the new feed first, and put the sieved clean larvae on the wooden tray while sieving.

Mealworm larvae need to break through the outer skin (shedding) to grow, and they can only grow up after molting again and again. During the larval stage, they molt 7 times. Each time they molt, the worm grows bigger and the larva grows one year old. They molt once every 9 days on average. When the larvae molt, the epidermis first splits from the thoracic and dorsal seams, and the head, thorax, feet, and then the abdomen and tail gradually molt out. Larvae usually molt on the surface of the feed, and after molting, they drill into the feed. The larvae that have just molted are milky white and have a delicate epidermis.

(IV) Larvae in the pupal stage pupate on the surface of the feed. Before pupation, the larvae crawl to the surface of the feed, lie still, and then slowly expand and contract. During the last molting, the larvae pupate. The pupation can be completed within a few seconds. The newly formed pupa is white-yellow, with a slightly longer body and wriggling abdominal segments. Gradually, the body shortens and turns dark yellow.

There are differences between individual larvae, which are reflected in the order of pupation time and the strength of individual abilities. Pupae that have just emerged and are mixed with larvae in a wooden tray are easily bitten by the larvae in the chest and abdomen, and their internal organs are eaten, becoming empty shells; some pupae are infected with viruses during the pupation process and become dead pupae after pupation. This requires frequent inspection. If this is found, the space can be sprayed with 0.310-6 bleach solution to disinfect and sterilize. At the same time, the dead pupae should be picked out and disposed of in time. When picking pupae, pupae that have emerged within 2 days should be placed in the same sieve tray containing feed, and synchronous reproduction should be insisted on, and concentrated to emerge as adults.

3. Management Measures

In the process of breeding mealworms, it is very important to master the breeding techniques and management measures, which are related to the reproduction speed, body quality, economic benefits and other issues of mealworms.

(1) Non-breeding personnel are prohibited from entering the breeding room. If personnel must enter the room, they must disinfect the room with quicklime outside the door.

(2) In the life history of mealworms, the four metamorphosis are important links. By mastering the time, shape and characteristics of each metamorphosis, we can master the breeding technology.

(3) The feed should be fresh, the bran should not be spoiled, and the vegetables should not be rotten.

(iv) During the larval stage, change the feed every time it sheds its skin, sift the feces in time, and add new feed. During the adult stage, there are eggs and feces at the bottom of the feed, which is easy to mold, so the tray should be changed in time.

(V) In order to accelerate reproduction and growth, glucose powder or vitamin powder, fish meal should be added to the feed for larvae and adults after emergence. Fresh vegetables should be fed every day.

(6) The breeding staff should check the conditions of each insect stage every day. If any diseased or dead insects are found, they should be removed in time to prevent bacterial infection.

(VII) The breeding of mealworms should be carried out according to the plan. The number of insects raised should be connected with the number of Chinese forest frogs raised, so that the number of larvae of each age should be fully recorded to ensure the success of mealworm breeding.

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