How and why do mealworms jump?

TeddyBearTarantula

Arachnopeon
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Jan 7, 2018
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19
hello,

I was feeding my spiders some mealworms, when I noticed loads of them stuck to the lid. I couldn’t understand how they got there, I assumed they’d crawled, it was my first time using them so didn’t know what they did really.

Anyway I took them back to their shelf which is level with my head and I noticed lots of mealworms dangling vertically from the lid, then loads of them started jumping up from the bottom of the container and hitting the lid, some were sticking and others not.

Why do they do this, it freaked me out, I got my daughter to come and watch this bizarre behaviour and we both didn’t like it!!!

Does anybody know what this bizarre behaviour is about?
 

D Sherlod

Arachnoknight
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Dec 30, 2016
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I have never experienced this,,, I've used mealworms for years with reptiles and only seen them crawl
 

PidderPeets

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I've never used mealworms as feeders and have no experience with this behavior, but I would suspect that if they are indeed "jumping", it could be by curling their body like a "C", and then quickly snapping it in the opposite direction.

I have seen the flinging behavior I described in a superworm I had shortly before it pupated. As the pupa develop underneath the larval form, the larva loses it's mobility so it's only capable of jerky or twitching motions. That could be what you're seeing
 

TeddyBearTarantula

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I've never used mealworms as feeders and have no experience with this behavior, but I would suspect that if they are indeed "jumping", it could be by curling their body like a "C", and then quickly snapping it in the opposite direction.

I have seen the flinging behavior I described in a superworm I had shortly before it pupated. As the pupa develop underneath the larval form, the larva loses it's mobility so it's only capable of jerky or twitching motions. That could be what you're seeing
I’m hoping this is what was happening, it absolutely freaked me out. I couldn’t find anything on google so I thought I’d ask here. I was starting to come to the conclusion that they were possessed or summat. It was bizarre.
 

Dave Jay

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Wow, I've never seen that! Even when sprayed with the supplement spray which obviously causes distress they don't jump. (Spray for the lizards)
 

Ellenantula

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Never heard of such a thing -- I don't even put a cover on mine (since I want maximum ventilation to prevent grain mites).
My mealies burrow. I've never witnessed any climbing or jumping. Never found one loose in house either.

How close is their lid to their substrate???
 

TeddyBearTarantula

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Wow, I've never seen that! Even when sprayed with the supplement spray which obviously causes distress they don't jump. (Spray for the lizards)
Neither had I, it absolutely freak me out, they were proper launching themselves! I was so shocked I called my 13 yo daughter to come check it out, just so I knew I wasn’t imagining it. I bought them from a reputable exotic pet shop, they were labelled as Mealworm. I’m starting to think they might have been some demon worms!

I was hoping to find at least one person or any information on this, just to lessen my anxiety but the more people pop up and say theyve never heard of it, it’s increasing by the second.
 

Tia B

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Oct 11, 2017
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Neither had I, it absolutely freak me out, they were proper launching themselves! I was so shocked I called my 13 yo daughter to come check it out, just so I knew I wasn’t imagining it. I bought them from a reputable exotic pet shop, they were labelled as Mealworm. I’m starting to think they might have been some demon worms!

I was hoping to find at least one person or any information on this, just to lessen my anxiety but the more people pop up and say theyve never heard of it, it’s increasing by the second.
Could you post a picture of them? I'm honestly skeptical that they're regular mealworms, mealworms flail but they don't jump. I thought they lack the physical ability, they certainly don't have the anatomy for it.
 

TeddyBearTarantula

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Could you post a picture of them? I'm honestly skeptical that they're regular mealworms, mealworms flail but they don't jump. I thought they lack the physical ability, they certainly don't have the anatomy for it.
I’m sorry I can’t, I was so freaked out I got rid of them! I drowned them and flushed them away.
I know that sounds horrible but I didn’t trust they were actually meal worms and I didn’t want them in my house after that!
I wish I had filmed it though, I’m not going to bother with mealworms again, there are two lost in the sub of my C Versicolor at the moment so I’ve got to take her enclosure apart to get them, a job I’m not looking forward to at all.
 

PidderPeets

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I’m hoping this is what was happening, it absolutely freaked me out. I couldn’t find anything on google so I thought I’d ask here. I was starting to come to the conclusion that they were possessed or summat. It was bizarre.
That's my best guess. I honestly don't know if mealworms can pupate with other mealworms around (I know superworms need to be separated to pupate), but if they're close to pupating, that would support my thoughts even more. Moth pupa are capable of very fast, jerky movements when trying to deter predators, so I'm thinking they're mealworms close to pupation, have lost their mobility, and are twitching in response to your movements or the movements of other mealworms disturbing them. If the lid is close enough to the substrate, I could imagine that jerky movement getting them close enough to the lid that their legs or mouthparts would get hooked on the lid, making it appear like they're jumping and then clinging to the lid

This is the best video I could find of the moth pupa behavior. Is the movement you're seeing similar at all to this?
 
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Tia B

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I’m sorry I can’t, I was so freaked out I got rid of them! I drowned them and flushed them away.
I know that sounds horrible but I didn’t trust they were actually meal worms and I didn’t want them in my house after that!
I wish I had filmed it though, I’m not going to bother with mealworms again, there are two lost in the sub of my C Versicolor at the moment so I’ve got to take her enclosure apart to get them, a job I’m not looking forward to at all.
Well, if you find those two, maybe take a picture before getting rid of them. It would be even better if you could take a video of the behavior if you see them do it again.
 

Dave Jay

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Yeah , a lot of larvae look like the mealworms we commonly use, when I was a kid the mealworms fed to birds used to pupate into brown moths with a curled tail and there'd always be mealworms under the seed dishes and in the husks on the aviary floor. A few years ago I noticed that a batch of mealworms I bought to boost a new colony hatched out into a beetle with a slightly different head shape than the ones I already had. So I don't think it's set in stone which species can be called mealworms.
 

TeddyBearTarantula

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That's my best guess. I honestly don't know if mealworms can pupate with other mealworms around (I know superworms need to be separated to pupate), but if they're close to pupating, that would support my thoughts even more. Moth pupa are capable of very fast, jerky movements when trying to deter predators, so I'm thinking they're mealworms close to pupation, have lost their mobility, and are twitching in response to your movements or the movements of other mealworms disturbing them. If the lid is close enough to the substrate, I could imagine that jerky movement getting them close enough to the lid that their legs or mouthparts would get hooked on the lid, making it appear like they're jumping and then clinging to the lid

This is the best video I could find of the moth pupa behavior. Is theverything movement you're seeing similar at all to this?
Yeah quite similar, there were literally hundred of them and to be fair it did only start once I started fishing them out for feeding time.
So maybe there were some in there that were flicking about and they were launching some of the smaller mealworms to the ceiling of the lid, the lid was about 3” from the floor surface of the container. Your theory does make sense and helps me sleep tonight! Thank you
 

coniontises

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Feb 24, 2018
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Could you post a picture of them? I'm honestly skeptical that they're regular mealworms, mealworms flail but they don't jump. I thought they lack the physical ability, they certainly don't have the anatomy for it.
Agreed. Sometimes the flail launches the insect a short distance, but this is rare.

That's my best guess. I honestly don't know if mealworms can pupate with other mealworms around (I know superworms need to be separated to pupate), but if they're close to pupating, that would support my thoughts even more. Moth pupa are capable of very fast, jerky movements when trying to deter predators, so I'm thinking they're mealworms close to pupation, have lost their mobility, and are twitching in response to your movements or the movements of other mealworms disturbing them. If the lid is close enough to the substrate, I could imagine that jerky movement getting them close enough to the lid that their legs or mouthparts would get hooked on the lid, making it appear like they're jumping and then clinging to the lid

This is the best video I could find of the moth pupa behavior. Is the movement you're seeing similar at all to this?
Yes, Tenebrio molitor can and will readily pupate when surrounded by conspecifics. It is one of the few commonly kept tenebrionids that does so, and such behavior is well-known.

Yeah , a lot of larvae look like the mealworms we commonly use, when I was a kid the mealworms fed to birds used to pupate into brown moths with a curled tail and there'd always be mealworms under the seed dishes and in the husks on the aviary floor. A few years ago I noticed that a batch of mealworms I bought to boost a new colony hatched out into a beetle with a slightly different head shape than the ones I already had. So I don't think it's set in stone which species can be called mealworms.
The species normally called “mealworm” is T. molitor, a beetle. You probably were raising a grain moth of some sort. English names are known to be quite confusing at times.

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Anyways, I suspect that your mealworms gave the appearance of jumping after being entangled in silk. Since they are long and thin, perhaps being tangled allowed them to flail while vertical, causing the flail to become unusually effective and making the insect bounce up and down.
 

Dave Jay

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294
A quick Google came up with this image, Meal Moth - Pyralis farinalis. These were what my grandfather bought as mealworms. I would imagine the larvae of Meal Moths are called Mealworms. I do recall an article in Tropical Fish Hobbyist in the 80's mentioning that mealworms pupate into moths making them hard to breed at home. I think what we know as mealworms today are just what the pet trade found easiest to breed in bulk. I wouldn't be surprised if the beetle used in Australia is a native beetle similar to the one used overseas, we use native roaches after all . Superworms still aren't readily available here, but I have seen them advertised in the last year or so , but whether they're the same species as used overseas I don't know. I can't see the government allowing the widespread sale of exotic insect larvae though, I might do some research I think. I've tried asking Pisces Enterprises for the species name of the roaches they breed but they just ignore private people and only answer questions from businesses. UZILUZ5LAZXLNZGL3HILBZXLWZ6HVZILWZLLCHHLVH8HZR5H1HGHCHGHVHMHBHHL5ZQLGZXLHREH.jpg
Edit - Still looking into it , I have found 2 more species known as mealworms so far. I think I have had both Pyralis species and Alphitobius species . It's hard to research just using a phone though, I might leave it to tomorrow when I can use a pc.
 
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Dave Jay

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A quick update before I finish looking into mealworms for a bit .
Mealworms are the larvae of beetles in the family Tenebrionidae, "Darkling beetles" of which there are over 20,000 species.
Three genus have commonly been 'domesticated' and known as mealworms , Tenebrio, Alphitobius and Tribolium.
By my own observations I know that the larvae of Pyralis farinalis, the Meal Moth were known to bird breeders as mealworms , at least up to the 70s and 80's , (I come from a line of bird trappers and breeders and know it was not just my grandfather that called them mealworms).
And I'll keep looking!
 

Wolfspidurguy

Arachnobaron
Joined
Feb 1, 2017
Messages
546
hello,

I was feeding my spiders some mealworms, when I noticed loads of them stuck to the lid. I couldn’t understand how they got there, I assumed they’d crawled, it was my first time using them so didn’t know what they did really.

Anyway I took them back to their shelf which is level with my head and I noticed lots of mealworms dangling vertically from the lid, then loads of them started jumping up from the bottom of the container and hitting the lid, some were sticking and others not.

Why do they do this, it freaked me out, I got my daughter to come and watch this bizarre behaviour and we both didn’t like it!!!

Does anybody know what this bizarre behaviour is about?
WOAH WHAT!! ive never heard of this! cool!
 

Dave Jay

Arachnoknight
Joined
Feb 5, 2018
Messages
294
An online store is selling an Australian species, Mallee Darkling Beetle mealworms , Nyctozoilus sp. ,so that's another one for the list.
 

NukaMedia Exotics

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That is strange, I keep mealworms as feeders and I've never seen them "jump" or end up on the lid of their enclosure...
 

newtothisplatform

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Mar 15, 2023
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1
That is strange, I keep mealworms as feeders and I've never seen them "jump" or end up on the lid of their enclosure...
one night, i found a mealworm beetle and witnees it jumped. i took a closure inspection, before it jumped, it made it's body bend a bit and stiff, and then back to normal with a small tick sound to "jump".
edit: while the ones that i found was a mature adult, i think this make the mealworm was on pupating stage that made it able to jump was closer to the truth
 
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