Mealworm fiasco

[Marlana]

I dropped a whole tub of mealworms on my carpet...250 of them. I quickly got what I could but they burrowed into the carpet as fast as they could. I’ve found a few since but not many. Just curious how big of a deal this is? Any ideas to kill or find the stragglers? Obviously in my spider room so any idea must be safe for them.

 

[DaveM]

LOL! Sorry to laugh about your misfortune, but it's funny!
You could leave out, at the site of the spill, a sheet of aluminum foil holding some moistened flour/dough laced with Borax, which will kill them.

You could let chickens run free in your house; they'll peck up every worm, and leave you lots of guano presents to fertilize your garden.

Really, I think it's no big deal. You'll have a few dried up and dead mealworms or a few cute black beetles running around your house for a short while, but as long as you keep your stored food sealed, the escapees won't survive long or propagate.
Vacuum your carpet. Done.

 

[WolvesInSpaceMarines]

I dropped a whole tub of mealworms on my carpet...250 of them. I quickly got what I could but they burrowed into the carpet as fast as they could. I’ve found a few since but not many. Just curious how big of a deal this is? Any ideas to kill or find the stragglers? Obviously in my spider room so any idea must be safe for them.

Oh man that’s horrible! I don’t really have any info but I think they pupate quickly so you might be able to wait until then? Ill absolutely defer to someone more experienced in this. Best of luck!

 

[Marlana]

LOL! Sorry to laugh about your misfortune, but it's funny!
You could leave out, at the site of the spill, a sheet of aluminum foil holding some moistened flour/dough laced with Borax, which will kill them.

You could let chickens run free in your house; they'll peck up every worm, and leave you lots of guano presents to fertilize your garden.

Really, I think it's no big deal. You'll have a few dried up and dead mealworms or a few cute black beetles running around your house for a short while, but as long as you keep your stored food sealed, the escapees won't survive long or propagate.
Vacuum your carpet. Done.

Good to know! All stored food is sealed. I did vacuum and search through the carpet. Found about 50 of them that I had missed. I don’t mind finding a couple for a short while! Just didn’t want an infestation on my hands

 

[Ferrachi]

I would have released my Sicarius on them...JK LOL

Nothing beats the vacuum !!

 

[viper69]

Dead mealworms are food for ants good luck

 

[Arthroverts]

So if we assume you caught roughly 75 individuals, you still have 175 roaming the underworld of your carpet, and depending on the size of the worms, you may be finding beetles scattered about for a few months...
There won't be an infestation since they don't have any food (unless you spill the fish food, dog food, oatmeal, etc. onto the carpet, all of which I have done by the way), but it'll be interesting regardless.

Thanks,

Arthroverts

 

[Marlana]

So if we assume you caught roughly 75 individuals, you still have 175 roaming the underworld of your carpet, and depending on the size of the worms, you may be finding beetles scattered about for a few months...
There won't be an infestation since they don't have any food (unless you spill the fish food, dog food, oatmeal, etc. onto the carpet, all of which I have done by the way), but it'll be interesting regardless.

Thanks,

Arthroverts

I actually got most of them right away. Thankfully I was right there and I scooped them right up. Then in the hours following I found 57! Which is more than I thought I missed but makes sense that I missed quite a few. I’ve vacuumed and scoured the carpet multiple times. Even moved my shelving and cleaned under it, just so they definitely don’t have any food crumbs to eat.

 

[DaveM]

That sounds great, like you've done a really good job. I need to clean my spider room. Maybe I'll follow your good example and dump a bunch of mealworms on the floor to motivate myself!

 

[Marlana]

Dead mealworms are food for ants good luck

Thanks for the heads up! We’ve never had problems with ants but I’m trying to be extra thorough so hopefully I’ve got them all!

 

[Marlana]

That sounds great, like you've done a really good job. I need to clean my spider room. Maybe I'll follow your good example and dump a bunch of mealworms on the floor to motivate myself!

Hey, it’s great motivation! I can just imagine the families reaction to tons of escaped mealworms. Hopefully I’ve found them all, or almost all. I’ve looked a few times today and vacuumed again but nothing.

 

[Bob Lee]

Vacuum the room, feed the mush to your other feeders
Recycled PROTEIN