License:
El Domo Open Source Mealworm Farm © 2023 by el-domo.com is licensed under CC BY 4.0
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
This license requires that reusers give credit to the creator. It allows reusers to distribute, remix, adapt, and build upon the material in any medium or format, even for commercial purposes.
Esta licencia requiere que los reutilizadores den crédito al creador. Permite a los reutilizadores distribuir, mezclar, adaptar y desarrollar el material en cualquier medio o formato, incluso con fines comerciales.
This project was carried out at the Instituto Superior Tecnológico 17 de Julio with the advice of the company El Domo to prepare a manual for the construction of a mealworm farm system, from the acquisition of materials to the worm life cycle. interest worms are met.
For this, two storages were carried out with different types of substrates and sources of humidity with the objective of determining which is the best substrate and food for mealworms, carrying out their respective maintenance, and then evaluating their evolution, development, environmental factors, and changes, which is needed for their growth and production, to standardize a mealworm rearing manual with viable substrates.
The mealworm corresponds to the larvae of two types of dark beetles of the Tenebrionidae family, the yellow beetle (Tenebrio molitor Linnaeus) and the common dark beetle (Tenebrio obscurus Fabricius). distributed throughout the world. (Medrano Vega 2019)
The taxonomic classification of this insect can be seen below:
- Scientific Name: Tenebrio molitor Linnaeus
- Class: Insects
- Order: Coleoptera
- Family: Tenebrionidae
- Genre: Dark
- Species: Molitor
The tenebrios are beetles whose larvae are mainly used to feed insectivorous animals in captivity because they are highly nutritious, easy to reproduce, and easy to maintain. The larvae are the first stage of the tenebrios, but it is their voracity that makes them special. And these worms are easy to feed. What they eat is really little, since they don’t need that much to survive. What’s more, they can go through the entire larval stage without drinking water. But of course, what we want is that they have the necessary proteins for our fish, so the better we take care of them, the better it will be since they are an enormous source of protein for fish. (Nowak, V., Persijn, D., Rittenschober, D. , and Charrondiere, 2016)
Among the different species of insects, the larva of the mealworm (Tenebrio molitor) stands out, which is characterized by the high biological value of its protein, excellent fatty acid profile and good digestibility (Makkar, Tran, Heuzé, and Ankers, 2014) mention that:
The adult beetles mate and lay eggs from which tiny, millimeter larvae will hatch, and they will have 2 months to grow. When they reach 2 cm or 2.5 cm, they begin to become immobile and this is because the pupation process begins. The pupa can be transformed from 6 to 30 days and this depends on the heat that we provide to the container (p.7).
On the other hand, a manual is a guide in which the basic and essential aspects of farm preparation for mealworms are compiled. And it allows us to understand the operation of the farm system and/or access in an organized and concise way, to the knowledge of the project.
GENERAL OBJECTIVE:
Develop a mealworm farm using different substrates and moisture sources to obtain biomass and use it as a protein supplement for fish.
SPECIFIC OBJECTIVES:
Determine different substrates for the development of mealworms.
Evaluate the behavior, conditions, and life cycle of the worms.
Prepare a manual for the rearing and development of mealworms.
PROPOSAL AND EXECUTION:
It has been determined that Tenebrio molitor is a promising source of protein and energy for the development of some species.
Fish are known to like mealworms so mealworms could be really useful in the pet food industry as an alternative source of protein. Therefore, the purpose of this work is to obtain protein mass to supply the fish with an energy source.
To do this, the first thing to do was a bibliographical search to develop a domestic mealworm farm and determine which are the substrates and under what conditions the mealworms develop optimally, with which sources of moisture they develop, and which are harmful. for the farm. Following this, the materials were acquired (wooden sticks, triplex, plastic trays with lids and mesh), substrates (oats and bran), food (potato, apple, and carrot), and the worms of interest to start with the preparation of the home farm. After the construction of the previously disinfected farm, the necessary parameters for the proper development of the worms were taken into account, such as temperature 25°C to 35°C, humidity, and darkness, controlling these conditions, and performing maintenance at an interval of 3 times a week. And also, each week a count of how many worms are stored in the plastic trays was carried out.
Finally, based on the results obtained and the organization that was carried out for the elaboration of the farm, a manual was elaborated whose content emphasizes the construction of the farm for mealworms, from the general base, storage of the worms, food and optimal substrates for their development. As well as, several suggestions for the maintenance of the farm, temperature, optimal conditions, and speed in which the worms grow.
ECONOMIC-FINANCIAL PLAN:
| Amount | Details | Unit cost | Total |
| 4 | Wood sticks | 0.60 $ | 2.40 $ |
| 1 | Triplex table | 1.20 $ | 1.20 $ |
| 3 | Plastic trays | 3.25 $ | 9.75 $ |
| 1 | Steel nail box | 5.00 $ | 5.00 $ |
| 1 | Hammer | 5.00 $ | 5.00 $ |
| 2 | silicone bars | 0.35 $ | 0.70 $ |
| 70 | mealworms | 10.00 $ | 10.00 $ |
| 1 | Mesh | 3.00 $ | 3.00 $ |
| 3 | Oatmeal | 0.50 $ | 1.50 $ |
| 2 | Bran | 0.50 $ | 1.00 $ |
| 3 | apples | 0.25 $ | 0.75 $ |
| 4 | Potatoes | 0.60 $ | 0.60 $ |
| 2 | carrots | 0.25 $ | 0.25 $ |
| 1 | Drill | 50.00 $ | 50.00 $ |
| 1 | cool | 0.60 $ | 0.60 $ |
| 1 | Measuring tape | 4.00 $ | 4.00 $ |
| 1 | packing tape | 1.00 $ | 1.00 $ |
| TOTAL | 96.75 $ |
CONCLUSIONS:
For the development of mealworms, two different substrates were used; oats and pig bran, concluding that pupae developed more quickly in the bran substrate, while none developed in the oat substrate.
Of the 70 Tenebrio larvae were divided into two containers, half of them were placed in an oat substrate and the other half in bran. The containers were taken to the Molecular Biotechnology laboratory especially in the darkroom for about 3 days at a temperature of 21 °C, on the 4th day they were taken out of the darkroom at a temperature of 25 °C, and paper was placed around it to keep it dark. Maintenance was carried out weekly, 3 times a week where the moisture sources were changed and the worms were counted.
RECOMMENDATIONS:
- The ideal temperature for its productive and rapid breeding should be between 25 and 35°C. They can survive at lower temperatures, but their life cycle will be slower.
- To place a source of humidity, be careful not to overdo it to avoid fungi and bacteria.
- It is important to keep the containers ventilated
- Change the substrate 3 days a week, separate the larvae and beetles with an apple, and pick them up by hand.
- As for the adult phase, beetles need to hydrate. Therefore it is important to put pieces of fruit on them, so they will last longer and they will lay more eggs.
Here in this PDF document, you can view the manual in English.
Aquí, en este PDF documento, puede consultar el manual en español.
Here in this PDF document, you can review the presentation in English.
Here in this PDF document and this PDF document, you can review the whiteboards.
Understand this as a design that you can build exactly as we explained or as a basic concept for your own construction with your own materials and needs.
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