Adult Darkling Beetle

Mealworm (baby Darkling Beetle)

We have a lot of darkling beetles on TomKat Ranch, which also happen to be adult mealworms. Since they’re already on the property and highly nutritious at almost 50% protein and 40% fat, it makes good sense to add mealworms to the Fish Food Project. They’re relatively easy to raise and have some similarities to crickets, except they are infinitely easier to handle since they cannot jump! It can take up to 3 months to get adult darkling beetles and they lay eggs quickly after that. Apparently, they lay a lot of eggs so getting a population going sounds relatively simple. Currently, they are located in the cricket room and will be moved to their own space very soon. It should be an interesting process to share!