Meal worm tunnels??

[Bloodletting]

Has anyone experienced tunnels that the mealies have created in the substrate? The top two-three inches of soil is held together by a labrynth of tunnels. They are pretty tough, I can pull them apart but they are pretty secure. Any ideas how they were made? I found no other insects in this tank. The mealies have been in here for a couple of years. Naturally, this is several generations....

Scott

 

[Bloodletting]

pics of tunnels

sorry, forgot the pictures. Here they are removed and laid out on a piece of paper. This is only a small amount of them.

 

[Wade]

Do you by by chance have meal moths living in there? They'res a couple of species that are common, one is just kind of tan while the Indian meal moth is banded, They're pretty small, the wingspan is like an inch. The caterpillars build little silken tubes just like that. They probably came in with whatever grain you're using, or else they just found it. They are a common pests of stored grains and at my place they've moved into the cockroach bins as well as the mealworm bins. They don't hurt anything and can even be used as feeders, but they can be annoying. They make it a real pain to sift through the substrate looking for worms to feed off. Also, it's not fun when they find the cereak, oatmeal, flour etc. that's intended for human consumption!

Wade

 

[Bloodletting]

i would say yes

I think that is what it is. I found several other 'worms' that looked like meal worms. They were a cross between a meal worm and a maggot. darker on both ends, tiny hairs and they moved like a maggot but had tiny legs like a mealie.


Thanks,

Scott

 

[ROACHMAN]

very good one wade that's what they are i have 1,000s of them everywhere they do made good food for baby mantis are other insects i happen to like them than agian i love roaches oh yea baby :clap: :clap: :worship: :worship:

 

[Wade]

Although I complain about them (nothing like opening a roach bin an getting swarmed by a big cloud of the things), many times I'v gotten out the 'ol aspirator and walked around the room sucking up moths for mantids. Somewhat labor intensive to collect, but free and ALWAYS available!

Wade