Feeder Beetles (Tenebrio molitor)

Description

These are darkling beetles, the adult form of the mealworm. These may be fresh beetles, or old, retired breeder beetles, or somewhere in between, but they are one of the newest feeders on the scene. How can this be, mealworms have been around for many decades? Well, for many years, it was believed that darkling beetles secrete a foul-smelling, horrible-tasting substance when attacked, the purpose being to ward off would-be predators. While this is true to an extent, in fact, many lizards enjoy eating darkling beetles very much! In our lizard breeding project, our adult Australian water dragons, as well as our emerald Lacertas, can’t seem to get enough of them. We believe that these beetles are actually “spicy”, not noxious. Pepper plants evolved hot, spicy chemical defenses to make them unpalatable, but humans love eating them. Darkling beetles are similar.

It can take a few tries to get some lizards turned-on to darkling beetles, but once they are, you will have another good feeder to offer your animals. Darkling beetles are lower in fat, and higher in protein, than mealworms, and best of all, calcium supplements stick to them!