Power morphing mealworms?

[ketz]

Hi,

I have a friend that I know at work who raises his own mealworms, and he said a way to get adult beetles really fast is to "power morph" the mealworms by putting them alone in a little condiment cup and leaving them on a warm shelf for a couple weeks and when they sense that there is no food they'll transform really fast.

I want to get a lot of beetles fast so I can continue the small colony that I've already started. Is there anyway to "power morph" the mealworms so I have the beetle fairly quickly?

Thanks in advance for any help!

 

[acpart]

It seems as if you just described the method above. In general, mealworms kept at warmer temperatures will morph faster, so you could also consider keeping the mealworms in their food at a higher temperature. If you know anyone else using mealworms near you, you could also offer to trade them a mealworm for each alien they can give you.

Aliza

 

[ketz]

Alright, so just putting them isolated into a small container with no food or water will trigger them to transform faster? I wasn't sure if they would be able to survive those conditions.

 

[Tony C]

It works for superworms, and I've noticed that mealworms left in a feeding dish will pupate pretty quickly.