Culture techniques of Tenebrio Molitor

Tenebrio Molitor is a completely abnormal insect, that is, adult, egg, larva and pupa. The adult body is long and flat, 1.4-1.8 cm long, dark brown with metallic luster, the head is anterior mouth type, and both sides of the lip base do not exceed the tactile base. In the process of Eclosion, the head, chest and feet are light brown, the abdomen and sheath wings are milky white, the body is young and unwilling to move, the color becomes darker after 2-3 days, the sheath wing becomes hard, flexible but does not fly, crawling faster. After careful feeding, the adult population copulates and lays eggs. Adults lay 2-4 eggs each time, and each female lays about 300-600 eggs, which are scattered on the sieve at the bottom of the feed, and the adult period is about 60 days. Oval white oval, about 1 mm in size. The egg stage is about 8-10 days, the larva is brown, the body length is 2-3 cm, the body segment is obvious, there are 3 pairs of chest feet, and there is a pair of caudal process in the 9th ventral segment. The larvae were yellowish white when hatched and gradually turned brown. The larvae shed their skin once in 9 days on average, each molting was one instar, a total of 7 times, and pupated on the surface of the feed after the last molting. The larval stage is about 60 days, the pupa is white, then turns white-yellow, the body segment is obvious, and the pupa stage is 12-15 days.

Larva: the shape is very similar to the golden needle worm and ground nail, the body is slender, the lip base is obvious, that is, there are obvious sutures between the upper lip and forehead, herbivorous. The newly hatched larvae are milky white, about 2 mm long, and then molt, each molting for one instar. The mature larvae are 20-30mm long, with obvious segments, 3 pairs of chest feet and a pair of caudal processes in the 9th ventral segment. The large insect is 3 mm wide and weighs 0.13 mm and 0.24 g. Pupate on the surface of the feed when molting for the last time. The larval stage is about 50-70 days.

Pupa: the pupa that has just changed from an old mature larva to a pupa is milky white with a soft and tender body surface. After that, the body color becomes gray and white, and the body surface hardens, which is a typical naked pupa. The pupa is 1520mm long, 3mm wide and weighs about 0.150g / pupa. There are light vertical stripes in the back and black mouths. There are papillae on the side of the abdomen (male pupa papillae is not obvious, the base heals, the end extends back; the female pupa is obvious, the end is flattened, slightly keratinized, bifurcated, significantly curved). The chest segment is large, with embryonic wings and appendages on the side, and the cephalic segment is also large, with a pair of black eye spots.

Adults: the first pair of wings of adults are soft and white, then yellow and yellowish brown, and gradually become black with metallic luster, the head is foremouth type, both sides of the lip base do not exceed the tactile base, the adult is in the process of Eclosion, the head, chest and feet are light brown, the abdomen and sheath wings are milky white, at the beginning, the insect body is young and unwilling to move, the sheath wing is black, hard and flexible, and the second pair of wings are membrane wings, but they cannot fly because of degradation. It crawls fast. After careful feeding, the adult population mated and laid eggs. The adults laid 2-4 eggs each time, and each female laid about 300-600 eggs, which were scattered under the sieve at the bottom of the feed. The adult stage is about 30-90 days. The adult is similar to a firefly, 10-18 mm long and 4-6 mm wide. The body weighs 0.1 to 0.2 grams per animal, and the body is divided into three parts: head, chest and abdomen, with a total of 13 sections. One segment of the head, a pair of antennae, 2-3 segments of the end are dilated, rod-shaped, and the mouth is born below the side of the head. The head is small, partially embedded in the chest, with a pair of black jaws and chewing mouthparts. Three segments of the chest, there was no obvious dividing line between the anterior thoracic dorsal plate and the lateral plate, mostly healed, and the ventral suture of the anterior chest was significant. The abdomen consists of 8 segments, with 5 abdominal segments and 1 tail. The male worm has mating apparatus hidden in it, and the female worm has ovipositor hidden in it.

Eggs: very small, milky white, long oval, long diameter 0.7-1.2 mm, short diameter about 0.3-0.8 mm. The egg has an egg shell on the outside and a yolk membrane in the inner layer, which is full of milky egg matter. The egg period is 8 to 10 days. The adults laid the most eggs at 25 ℃ ~ 32 ℃, and the quality was high. The adults rarely mated and spawned below 15 ℃, and did not mate below 10 ℃.