Experiment Time

This week we did some experiments with our beetles. We wanted to see if they would show a clear preference between dry or moist environments. We thought they would be interested in moist because of the fact that were often around the potatoes (and previously with moist bread) and burrowing into the bottom of them. We performed the experiment by placing them between a moist paper towel and a dry paper towel. This first time through, they stayed primarily on the moist towel. They did not like the tinfoil in between the two and tried to avoid it mostly. We let them move around for about 10 minutes, and by the time they were done, most of them were very passive over on the moist side, and almost seemed to drinking in the moisture.

We went back later and did the experiment again, this time collecting some data. We recorded how many beetles were on each side every 30 seconds. During some of these trials, some of the beetles began to mate. We think this may have thrown off the data a little bit, but we had to keep moving on. In these trials where we kept the data, the beetles seemed to prefer the dry paper towel. We tried it in a darker condition even, and they still seemed to prefer the dry. All in all, it was an interesting experiment, and it has been an interesting ride with these little critters. We even found out that they have a hard time righting themselves from their backs, and cannot run away.

The mealworms are full-fledged beetles these days. They are very active and run all over the place in their container. They like the potatoes and they are good at crawling all over them, which was a big difference from the last time I observed them. They look like a typical beetle. They are black or a dark redish-brown. They kind of have a shell on their back. They have wings although they don't fly.

The beetles are a little less wary of people than the mealworms were. They do not get disturbed as easily, and seemed to do okay when I cleaned out their container (They ran from me rather than playing dead.) They seem to be able to survive in tough conditions, including with mold, etc. Most of the them were still alive when I cleaned them out.

Week 6

This week was exciting because more of the meal worms have taken the pupa form. The majority of the bugs are tan and looking fatter. Their shape resembles more of a beetle than a worm, although they seem fatter and squishier than a beetle. They are much more active than they have been up to this point. A few of them are developing a darker color (slightly reddish) and a harder looking texture. The harder that they look, the more 'compact' that they appear. The ones who have started to develop into beetles lose their appearance of fat and squishy and start looking more like small reddish black seeds. The parts of their bodies are also more identifiable, with an obvious head, middle section, and body. They almost look like lego pieces that can be snapped apart. As they get darker and develop into a beetle, their activity skyrockets and they begin moving frantically around the container, crawling from side to side and walking all over the potatoes. There are also some however, who bury themselves in clumps, in the corners, under the oatmeal.

Week 5

This is the first week that there was any real transition from the mealworm phase. They started looking fatter and lighter. Their shape changed as well from a worm shape to more of a shrimp shape with a pointy end and a thicker end. A few of them started developing the beatle shape, while keeping a similar color and texture of the rest of the pupa (golden). However, the color is slightly darker tan. The ones who have started developing the beatle shape are also more active than the other ones. Sometimes they look dead but when they do move they seem to be getting more and more active with growth.

week 4

During week four, the meal worms didn't seem to have changed shape or behavior that much. I continued to find them burrowed under the potatoes when I would change them. They also seemed to clump together in the corners, under the oatmeal. When they moved, they were slow but when they didn't move they appeared dead.

Saturday, February 19, 2011

Week three with the worms was similar to week two, but the worms seemed to be quite a bit more active. Every time I looked, there were always worms at the surface, and I could see the oats moving quite a bit. The potatoes seemed to dry up quicker and I found myself replacing them frequently. Whenever I took the old potatoes out, there were usually worms clinging to or half of their bodies burrowed into the potato. Something even more interesting, though, is that when I put the fresh, juicy potatoes back into their habitat, the oats seemed to come to life as worms came up to get a bite to eat. When the worms were above the surface, they tended to bunch together around the potatoes or at the edge of the container. The color of the worms seems to be changing. They look a lot lighter than they did when I first got them. Some of them look lighter than others. Other than that, their appearance hasn't changed.  Overall, this week their activity has increased, they seem to bunch together near the food source, and their color is becoming lighter. 

Saturday, February 12, 2011

Week two with the meal worms wasn't that exciting. For the first couple of days I had them, they didn't come to the surface of the oats very often, and didn't seem very active. Watching closely, though, I could see the oats moving which told me there was some activity going on beneath. Occasionally I would see individual worms out snacking on the potatoes. The worms have a few legs at the front half of their bodies. They use their legs to help them burrow their heads into the potato. I think the potato is their source of food as well as water. The potatoes dried up by the end of three days, so I changed it with a fresh one. When I put in new potatoes, the worm activity seemed to increase. The color of the worms has stayed the same, and I have seen the skins of a few dead worms near the surface of the oats. The color of the dead worms is a darker color
.

Worm burrowing in potato

Week one with our mealworms has come to a close, and I was able to make some interesting observations about our new "pets". There was not much to see initially. The mealworms were kind of in a frozen state when I first put them into their new environment. A little later that evening, however, they were moving around. It was interesting to see what came out of the container they came in. There were the living mealworms (as can be seen in the picture above) as well as what looked to be the skins of mealworms (looked to be shed like a snake does) and also some mealworms that appeared to be dead and were quite dark.

The mealworms look quite similar to normal worms. They are a light brown, kind of amber color, for the most part. They

have a range of different colors as well, some with a darker and lighter end. They are tunnelers

and like to move around through their habitat. One end of the worm, on the bottom side, has several sets of legs that they use to pull the rest of their body around. They also seem to have the "play dead" defense mechanism. When I changed their environment and was weeding through the oats to find them, they would almost try and move until I touched them with something. They would hold their shape for sometime on top of the new oats until they felt there was no longer a threat. Although there is not much to see on the surface, it seems there is quite a lot going on.

The initial stimulus that brought about activity in the mealworms was a potato. When I first put a chunk of potato in, some mealworms started to kind of gravitate to it. They started eating at the potato and made indents in it, where they either ate or sucked the liquid out of it. The initial potato was really the only time I observed this happening, though. I also added some moist, wheat bread, which also got some initial response and movements, but they didn't do much with subsequent bread or a carrot.

I was not able to observe the mealworms a lot besides those initial encounters. They seem to prefer staying under the oats. It often seems that there is not much movement coming from them, but there is a little. Sometimes they will come up to investigate a new food or water source, or they will move under they oats and you just have to see those oats move. They respond to tapping under the container with a little more movement. I think for future weeks, there should be less oats in the habitat to allow for more observations.