Larvae, known as mealworms, hatch few weeks later. Larvae are golden brown colored and have cylindrical body equipped with 6 legs that are used for the movement on the ground. Larva molts 9 to 20 times over a period of two months. It then retreats under the ground and enters pupa dormant stage. Two or three weeks later, adult, white-colored insect emerges from the cocoon.
It attains adult, black coloration after only one day. Some species of darkling beetles can complete their entire life cycle in 3 to 4 months, while other species can survive until the age of 10 years.
Most darkling beetles live only several months due to intense predation. Advance reservations are required to visit. Make a free reservation. Many of the darkling beetle species and their larvae called mealworms are major agricultural pests. They feed on stored grain and are often encountered around livestock feed. The beetles don't need an external water source to survive. Instead their bodies fabricate it from other molecules.
Darkling beetles are scavengers and decomposers. They eat dead leaves, rotting wood and other decaying plant matter. Mealworms are often found inside rotting stumps, logs and underneath rocks. They seek shaded and protected areas with a good supply of plant material to feed on.
Darkling beetles may consume living plants, fruit, seeds and fungi as well. Adult female beetles deposit eggs in the surface of the ground. Once the small white eggs hatch, the larvae take shelter and feed for several months before crawling back into the ground to pupate.
The mealworms may molt anywhere between nine and 20 times before developing into adults, according to the University of Arizona Center for Insect Science. Eleodes beetles raise their abdomens high in the air, so they almost appear to be standing on their heads, while fleeing the suspected danger.
Darkling beetles live worldwide, in both temperate and tropical habitats. The family Tenebrionidae is one of the largest in the beetle order, with well over 15, species known. In North America, darkling beetles are most diverse and abundant in the west. Scientists have described 1, western species, but only around eastern Tenebrionids.
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