Darkling beetles, also known as mealworm beetles, are prolific breeders that survive for a couple of months. Their entire lifetime from egg to adult is about one year. During mating, the male injects the female with a packet of semen, and a few days after mating, the female burrows into soft ground. The beetles lay their eggs, which typically hatch within 7 to 10 days. Once hatched, they grow and molt, undergoing a series of stages.
After about one to two weeks of adult life, beetles begin to mate and reproduce. A few days after mating, female beetles burrow into soil or substrate and lay eggs. Mealworm beetles are members of the genus Mealworms, and it takes approximately two weeks for the adult beetle to mate and lay eggs after emerging from the pupae (cocoon). Each female beetle can lay 100-200 eggs at a time and up to 500 over their life.
Darkling beetles start their life as eggs, which remain in this stage for approximately 7 to 10 days before hatching. They can lay about 500 eggs in their whole life. In the mating process, the female beetle does not initiate the proceedings. After mating, the female burrows into soft ground and lays between 70 and 100 eggs. The egg stage typically lasts 7-14 days.
Mealworm beetles do get rid of their eggs, but after laying them, they may eat some of them. There are 1, 300 species of darkling beetles in North America alone, and they are scavengers that eat both fresh and decaying vegetation. Adult beetles oviposit anywhere, including inside tissue paper, and damage results when larvae bore into insulation to find safe areas for pupation.
| Article | Description | Site |
|---|---|---|
| Separating Eggs/Babies from Beatles : r/mealworms | A lot of people separate the eggs/babies from the beetles religiously. Then others say, nah, don’t worry about it they might eat some but you’ll have plenty. | reddit.com |
| easiest way to find darkling beetles eggs? | Feeders | I have never seen them eat the eggs, but the eggs are just so small that I can’t imagine that they would make that great of a meal. C … | beardeddragon.org |
| Wild Darkling Beetle Egg-Laying? | They lay their eggs in the soil. It’s very difficult to see them, since they’re tiny and soil sticks to them once they’re laid. | arachnoboards.com |
📹 Darkling Beetle (Mealworm) Life Cycle
The life cycle of the darkling beetle begins with the egg stage. Female beetles lay their eggs in dark, damp environments, such as …
📹 Darkling Beetles: Separating Beetles from Substrate & eggs
This video shows a person cleaning their beetle bins. They use sieves to separate the beetles from the substrate and eggs, then store the eggs and young beetles in a separate container. The person then refills the beetle bins with fresh substrate and returns the adult beetles.
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