Mealworm Contamination?

[Jayme]

I've recently started breeding my own mealworms. I have a separate container for the Darkling Beetles, and then a pupa and larva container. The adult container is in a ziplock container with holes drilled in the top for air. I keep them on Wheat Germ and carrots which are replaced every one to three days. However, recently there's been this web, sticky stuff in the container that holds the germ into strings, and bundles of hard things. Also one day I opened the container to find a bunch of baby moths flying out..
They looked like this: http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_siMxJlWWFZc/STWuN8uqYoI/AAAAAAAAAJ0/oH5sHXN-2RE/s200/miller+moth.jpg

What's going on here? Are my beetles contaminated? Do I have to start over, or can I just change the bedding?

Thanks in advanced,
~Jayme

 

[justindh1]

Wax worms are the only ones that I know of that change into moths! I don't know what is going on with that but I would definitly change the bedding first and then go from there.

The bundle of hard things could be the bedding that got wet and clumped up but not sure. Don't know about the web stuff, could be mold growing from too much moisture.

Can you provide pictures of the containers and the sticky stuff?

 

[acpart]

You've probably got grain moths. They get into the mealworm grain and lay eggs. When the larva start to make cocoons, they produce that stringy stuff and also the clumps of grain and cocoon "silk". You are probably going to be seeing moths flying around your house if you haven't already. If you have any grains or dried fruit or cereal around, put it in something airtight (it may be too late already) because it will be infested. The best thing to do is to get all your food protected (e.g. get closed plastic containers for your cereal instead of leaving it out in the boxes; put your rice etc. in closed plastic or glass jars), remove any stringy stuff you see and hope for the best.

Aliza

 

[Jayme]

I check pics on google and they're definitely grain moths. We also found some larva that must be from the moths:

http://www.gregspestsolutions.com/Quickstart/ImageLib/indian_meal_moth_picture.jpg

Cute little fellas but I don't want them In my food or in mah worms. =/

Are the larva/moths eatable? Is there a danger of pesticides? According to my mom's boyfriend, my gecko managed to catch and eat one of the moths the other day. Hope it wasn't harmful, he seems quite healthy.


What do you propose I do? Most of the moths were released outside, and the remaining ones inside were vacuumed.. Though there's still one or two stragglers. My mealworms aren't contaminated are they?

Will simply changing out the bedding solve the problem? How do I prevent future moths?

 

[acpart]

Your geckos aren't contaminated. The moths and larva are safe to eat: I feed the moths to my day geckos and the larva to my fish. By now, with the moths having at least one generation in your grain, there's probably no pesticide danger. You can try changing the bedding, though if you have a lot of mealworms, that's hard to do. I once spent hours picking out all the larva and you can never get them all out. The best way to proceed is to, as I said before, make sure all your non-refrigerated food is contained in hard plastic or glass rather than in cardboard, plastic bags or paper and keep removing all the moths and larva that you can see. You will still have some winged friends zooming around, but just imagine that you're being part of nature.

Aliza