Friday, June 12, 2009

Life cycle of a mealworm

You can tell my non-affinity with science from the one measly post on it since I started blogging. Well, I now have another! Yay!

Andre has been learning life cycles for science as part of the p3 syllabus. He has been taught that some insects have a four-stage life cycle as depicted here:


To make the lesson come alive, his teacher gave each of her students two mealworms to bring home (below). When I first saw them, I said, "Eeeeee! Don't put them near me!" Sorry, my bug phobia always takes precedence. To compensate for my open disgust, I decided to dutifully note down the dates when the mealworms metamorphasise. He brought them home on 20 April. Obviously this is not the egg stage, so they're already at the creepy larva stage.

One week later on 27 April, Andre peered at the container in astonishment - there seemed to be THREE mealworms instead of two. Nope, they didn't clone themselves, one was just the skin. The mealworms were moulting.

Then for over a month, the mealworms did nothing but eat. We fed them bread, mostly. They ate steadily, shed their skins several times and by the end of May, finally one of them went into the pupa stage. It's the lighter coloured, shrivelled looking one. You can see the remnant of the skin it had shed next to it.

And finally, on 5 June, Andre let out a shriek when he went to check on his mealworms. One of them had become an adult (mealworm beetle). By the way, it's orange because Andre insisted on feeding it carrots.


Eeeeeeeeeeee.... it's uglier than ever. Plus now, it can fly *shudder*. I've suggested to Andre that we feed it to his carnivorous hamster but he insists he needs to bring it back to his teacher. In the name of science, I'll tolerate that bug in my home for the rest of the school holidays but I'm putting my foot down if the teacher gives him a cockroach next.

19 comments:

Lilian said...

Eeeyeewwww eeeeyeeeewwwww shrieeeeeekkkkk!!!

Each picture makes me so geli....hellllppp!!!

monlim said...

LMAO!!! I finally meet someone who hates bugs even more than I do!

Sue said...

When i saw the last photo I thought those two pieces of carrots were the beetles :D I like that your son's school gives them such memorable science projects. It really reinforces learning so much more.

monlim said...

Sue: I guess it does reinforce learning but the ick factor makes me squirmy :P

Sue said...

My dd's P6 GEP class dissected crabs. I have no idea what for :P

monlim said...

Crabs???? For dinner maybe? LOL!!

Anonymous said...

wah! at least your son saw his mealworms thru. bernard's niece had dumped her mealworms into the toilet bowl at home. and since i'm not squirmish about bugs / cockroaches, i actually LECTURED the girl about killing an innocent life. (i know, i know, i think i'm a vegetarian in my previous life...) - kjj

monlim said...

bwahahaha!! eww... i can just imagine the mealworms trying to climb up the toilet bowl, ICK...

LadyB said...

Hmmm....we actually have one plastic container with mealworms and another for the *adults*. They are actually food for the pitcher plants. Hope no one calls me a *murderer* :P

monlim said...

Eww, eww, eww!!! Remind me never to visit you LOL!!

Anonymous said...

What an interesting post! In our little gardening corner outside our unit, we always keep caterpillars until they become lime butterflies and then we set them free. The caterpillars are not very big or hairy, so they are quite cute actually. Of course, the best part is when setting the newly emerged butterflies free, cos can feel a sense of 'achievement', heehee.

As for mealworms, you're right, they are so icky! Don't think I would ever initiate growing mealworms for observation at home. So, thanks for the pics!

SC

monlim said...

Caterpillars!!! Sorry, anything that moves in that wriggly manner is on my avoid list :D

LadyB said...

SC: wow the *caterpillars turn into butterflies* sounds wonderful. Can visualize tt fantastic moment. Life/nature is just amazing...Btw, millipede is also a cute & shy creature.:)
Mo: the one thing tt's really gross is the centipede. I will not hesitate to *KILL* hiaks
But what chills me is definitely the Snakes *heart attack*
PS. So far I am ok with worms and insects except cockroaches...hated & afraid of :P I will fleeeeeeee like there is no tomorrow

Anonymous said...

LadyB: Eeeks! I'm most fearful of snakes and lizards, even fake ones!

When I gather more guts, I'll keep millipede : P

SC

Alcovelet said...

Yow!! Squeal!

Can't afford to faint cos gotta run!

Veronica_L said...

When I first saw the last picture, I thought the orange lumps were carrot slices. Andre fed them carrots? Poor little insects...

Don't be cruel, feeding them to his hamster after he's invested so much care and concern in them! You should at least set it free...

monlim said...

Veronica: the orange lumps ARE carrots, the beetle is the one with creepy legs in the air...

Funny how the other mealworm hasn't even reached the pupa stage yet, till today. It's one of those slacker mealworms...

bACk in GERMANY said...

This reminds me of the tub of worms I saw at Angie's place.....
Can't imagine if it's dropped on the floor.... eweeeeee!

Aditya said...

I one time purchased meal worms then straight away after few minutes 1 mealworm became pupa!!!

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