Breeding Lesser Mealworms as Composters (and food)

[richard22]

I have been breeding these lesser mealworms for some time now, and now I am using them as composters as they eat nearly everything. I have a large colony in a 16qt sterilite bin and now I am wondering if they are safe to use for food, like mealworms. I read the beetles release benzoquinones, but only larva would be used and dried and ground into powder. The beetles and larva live together, so I am wondering if there are any risks to using the larva. The frass tends to smell like ammonia when humid, but the container is good with high ventilation and heat. I have repeated contact with the container, so I also wonder if I could get side effects from the beetle toxins and breathing the air from the bin. I saw a site on entomophagy selling lesser mealworm powder, and I wonder how they make it if the larva aren’t safe. Currently I am using them for composting my food like black soldier flies but easier, and supposedly they eat mold too, so I see potential if risks aren’t too bad. Are they a good idea to breed as composters and to eat larva?

 

[pannaking22]

Huh, I hadn't thought of using these guys for compost before. Might actually work better than the red wrigglers I've got now. I'm not sure how that company would have gotten the "food safe" label for their lesser mealworms, but I'm guessing if you're just feeding yours table scraps, fruit pieces, etc., the larvae are probably fine to be ground up.

 

[richard22]

Huh, I hadn't thought of using these guys for compost before. Might actually work better than the red wrigglers I've got now. I'm not sure how that company would have gotten the "food safe" label for their lesser mealworms, but I'm guessing if you're just feeding yours table scraps, fruit pieces, etc., the larvae are probably fine to be ground up.

I can’t find the specific farm, but looking more into it it seems its a somewhat common alternative to mealworms. Just searching “buffalo worm powder” will come up with many instances. Their cultures appear succeptible to moisture issues which makes a strong cat urine smell but high heat and ventilation seems to help. They seem much less picky than normal mealworms, worms, or BSFL, tolerating high humidity, mold, mites, overcrowding (also no separate pupal or larval areas like normal mealworms), and most foods. They might even eat mold and mites, but food could become rancid if heat isn’t high enough to dry the moldy food up. After creating a biohazard of a sludge compost bin, this is promising. At this point this is just free promotion for the insect, so I recommend breeding them.