Mealworm Diet
The earth's food chain is a complex concept. Most foods begin as seeds in the ground or on trees, and these foods are consumed by a plethora of animals. For example, mealworms consume grass and animal waste, animals consume mealworms, and humans consume animals that consume mealworms. However, it is becoming more widespread for humans to consume mealworms too. This example of the circle of life is just one of many that keep the earth in constant evolution.
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Wild Mealworms
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Mealworms are beetles that haven't fully matured yet and are in the larval stage of growing. During this stage, the mealworm appears wormlike and hardened, so it can burrow under rocks and logs or in grain silos. In the wild, these mealworms will eat just about anything that is found around them, including decaying leaves, sticks, dried grasses, new plant roots, dead insects, animal waste, wood and stored grains. They hydrate from fruits or vegetables that hold water, such as potatoes or apples.
Mealworm Caretaker
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People purchase mealworms and take care of them in a container until they are plump and healthy. Mealworms make great food for other animals, such as birds and fish, or for humans, so people choose to house and feed these mealworms until they are as fat and healthy as they can be. These mealworm caretakers can fill the bottom of a sealed container with bran flakes or rolled oats, or they purchase mealworm food available online or in pet shops. They should add half of an apple or potato to the jar as a water source, and then they should place the container in the refrigerator or a cool place.
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Animal Diet
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Mealworms are resistant against disease and parasites and usually make it to their beetle stage unless eaten first. However, mealworms are part of a wide variety of animal diets. Numerous wild animals consume mealworms as part of their diet because they are full of protein and convenient to find under rocks or in burrows. These animals include small wild birds, birds of prey, small mammals, lizards, snakes and fish. People often hook mealworms to the end of fishing hooks in order to catch fish, or they feed mealworms to birds in birdfeeders during the winter months when food is scarce.
Human Diet
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Animals are not the only ones that consume mealworms. According to MealwormStore.com, people choose to add mealworms to their diets because they are low in fat, high in protein and, surprisingly, taste good. To do so, you should feed your mealworms grain and fruit. Once they are plump, you can eat them live, which is the way that provides the most nutrition, or you can place them in the freezer in a closed plastic bag for about 15 minutes. Once they are dead, they can be washed off and added to salads, stir fries, cookies or anything you desire.
Insect Consumption
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Most humans cringe at the thought of eating insects. However, entomophagy, the consumption of insects, does not usually pose health threats to humans. On the contrary, according to Manataka.org, there are 1,462 recorded species of edible insects, and they are all low in fat and high in protein. Mealworms are the easiest insect to purchase and care for. They can be purchased in pet shops, bait shops or online or found in the wild. Even if you don't want to consume insects, Manataka.org claims that people eat an average of a pound of insects if their lifetime accidentally, in foods that the insects burrow in.
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- Photo Credit beetle image by Anton Chernenko from Fotolia.com
