Mealworm beetles twitching. Pesticide?

[alf89757]

Hi all!

I fed my mealworms some vegetables from my fridge, and then I noticed a beetle walking frantically around while twitching. A few worms were curled up in a circle. I quickly took the vegetables out so they wouldn't do any more damage. Then I noticed the beetles just lying on their backs with their legs moving and twitching. And a worm was twitching too.

Could this be caused by pesticide on the vegetables? (actually, after writing this down, I'm pretty sure it's pesticide) Are they just gonna die or might they recover? If they do recover is it still safe to feed my T's with them?

 

[Drakk]

I would not risk it...........even if they do recover.

 

[Louise E. Rothstein]

I would not risk it...........even if they do recover.

I would advise organic vegetables.
Many supermarkets do carry some.

 

[Chris_Skeleton]

Sounds like your beetle was just stuck on it's back. As for the twitching mealworm, they become motionless and will twitch randomly when they are about to pupate.

 

[Drakk]

I guess it depends on if they act normal when there flipped back upright?

 

[Vixvy]

What vegetable did you use? IMOE, cabbage is poison for them but the rest are ok. I have to agree with Chris.