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Study the complete life cycle of a mealworm

Suitable For

Grade 8

Difficulty

2

Time Required

 Months

Supervision

Advised

What’s it about?

A complete life cycle of a mealworm takes six months. Mealworms are actually the larva stage of the Darkling Beetle. The adult meal worm is a nocturnal beetle that is approximately one inch in length and dark brown or black in colour with a hard outer shell. In this science experiment, study the four phases of a mealworm’s life over six months:

Topics covered

Meal worms

What will I need?

  • LARGE CONTAINER
  • MEALWORMS
  • CARDBOARD
  • OATMEAL OR BRAN
  • RUBBER BANDS
  • APPLE
  • MESH CLOTH

Procedure (Method)

How does it work?

Over the next six months you will witness the four phases of a mealworm’s life. First, the mealworms will develop into pupae. When this happens, move the pupae into another similar container with food at the bottom and covered with mesh cloth, otherwise they might be eaten by the remaining mealworms. The pupae will then hatch into beetles in the new container and at this time they can be placed back into the original container. The adult beetles will lay small eggs that will hatch into mealworms again.

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