Om nom nom nom nom nom nom nom nom nom nom nom nom nom nom nom nom nom

May 6, 2024 6:10 AM

It's strangely entrancing and quite fascinating, but here's time-lapse photography of mealworms eating various things -- apple, cherry, reddish sprouts, cheeseburger, even a Carolina Reaper pepper. CAROLINA REAPER VS MEALWORMS [8m] I didn't expect this would be so interesting, but it really is.

Are there things mealworms CAN'T eat? [4m30s] is a bit of a companion piece, and does feature things the mealworms cannot eat.

posted by hippybear (28 comments total)

Seriously though, if you're slicing a Carolina Reaper you should probably wear gloves.

Are mealworms affected by capsaicin?
posted by silentbicycle at 6:22 AM on May 6 [1 favorite]

I was fascinated by the way the color... rubbed off on them? Do they take on the color of what they eat? I had to watch muted so maybe they said.

Fascinated, and maybe a little freaked out. Great find!
posted by Snowishberlin at 6:33 AM on May 6

The future of food: feeding junk to meal worms, then processing the worms into protein meal. (Not even kidding.)
posted by seanmpuckett at 6:38 AM on May 6 [2 favorites]

>The future of food: feeding junk to meal worms, then processing the worms into protein meal. (Not even kidding.)

I remember watching Snowpiercer and thinking “eh, i would eat the bug bar”
posted by tehgubner at 6:54 AM on May 6 [3 favorites]

This place is complex sometimes.

Metafilter: we hate videos of boats on waves but mealworms = COOL


Ya. No. This made me super queasy.
posted by chasles at 7:19 AM on May 6 [2 favorites]

Yep! They're champs. That's why I'm always like this when these show up in the compost bin.
posted by Don Pepino at 7:21 AM on May 6

@silentbicycle

I know capsaicin affects only certain animals. Mammals have the receptors that are averse to it, but I know birds don't. Which is why some people add capsaicin extract to outdoor bird feeders to keep rodents away. So maybe mealworms are similar in that they are not affected by it.
posted by indianbadger1 at 7:39 AM on May 6

Good grief, that second video! The answer to the title question is "yeah but not many". They can eat styrofoam?!

"Join us next week as several thousand tiny bugs munch their way through a fence post, a cinder block, and the transmission from a Toyota Hilux!"

I'm noting the results of the honey experiment for when they inevitably rise up and take over the world...
posted by tomsk at 7:40 AM on May 6

They put the Carolina Reaper in to distract you from the fact they couldn't make any headway on that avocado pit!
posted by mittens at 7:51 AM on May 6

Conversely, at an Insect Fair here in San Francisco, I learned how tasty teriyaki mealworms are. They would be great on salads! Seriously!
posted by njohnson23 at 8:40 AM on May 6 [2 favorites]

Will it blend digest?
posted by the antecedent of that pronoun at 8:41 AM on May 6 [1 favorite]

A mealworm ate his way out of my childhood pet lizard’s stomach, killing him, and cementing my lifelong dislike of these murderers.

Which somehow did nothing to stop me from following their TikTok channel and watching in morbid glee.
posted by BuddhaInABucket at 9:43 AM on May 6

Kinderegg chocolate was not to their liking. Does anyone actually like to eat Kindereggs?
posted by waving at 10:34 AM on May 6 [1 favorite]

Anywhere but the USA I think people buy Kindereggs for the toys. Kinder is vastly inferior in the US.
posted by hippybear at 10:52 AM on May 6 [2 favorites]

indianbadger1, WHOAAAAAA

(My jaw is literally hanging open - this is a Very Interesting Fact, thank you for sharing!)
posted by rrrrrrrrrt at 11:09 AM on May 6

I know capsaicin affects only certain animals.

Deer aren't affected by THC so if they come across your out-in-the-woods marijuana grow operation they will eat it all because it is yummy and has good vitamins, but they will not get stoned.
posted by hippybear at 12:16 PM on May 6

A mealworm ate his way out

(The grisly step to take to protect your animals is to crush the worm's head. (which is so gross, i'm glad we stopped using worms as feeders and just do roaches and fruit flies.))
posted by mittens at 12:19 PM on May 6

I'm squeeshing your head! Squeesh! Squeesh!
posted by hippybear at 12:21 PM on May 6 [1 favorite]

I cannot think of a situation where I would willingly eat a mealworm.
posted by JustSayNoDawg at 12:33 PM on May 6

I cannot think of a situation where I would willingly eat a mealworm.

I've had them stir-fried. They were meh.
posted by fimbulvetr at 12:44 PM on May 6

I cannot think of a situation where I would willingly eat a mealworm.

I'm not particularly averse to unusual sources of protein as long as all the unusual-ness is hidden under layers of faux familiarity, but, even if I were, I'll bet “it’s between this food that squicks me out and furthering the environmental and humanitarian catastrophe of traditional protein sources” or, even more convincingly, “no other source of protein is available” would do it for me.

(Maybe the first one isn’t all that convincing, because I do eat meat, though not much. So let’s say, I’d prefer not to further the catastrophe of traditional protein sources, but I’m also lazy. But I’d for darned sure eat sustainable protein sources, among which mealworm and insect protein sources hopefully number, if it were as easy to get them as other foodstuffs. I tried cricket once when a local co-op was handing out samples, and it wasn’t bad. It’s a little psychologically difficult at first, but it would also be psychologically difficult for me to accept eating cows if I weren’t (a) used to it, and (b) so thoroughly insulated from the actual killing.)
posted by It is regrettable that at 1:53 PM on May 6 [3 favorites]

This place is complex sometimes.

Metafilter: we hate videos of boats on waves but mealworms = COOL

Ya. No. This made me super queasy.

I understand the cool factor but no, I wasn't fond of this. I liked the boats on waves, though. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
posted by ashbury at 2:06 PM on May 6 [2 favorites]

Okay, now do dermestid beetle timelapses
posted by scruss at 2:10 PM on May 6

I little guy that made up to the apple stem and fought his way out was a straight out of a horror movie.
posted by The_Vegetables at 2:19 PM on May 6 [1 favorite]

I cannot think of a situation where I would willingly eat a mealworm.

the mealworms, on the other hand, can think of various situations in which they would willingly eat you

[these are great videos. I think I would watch one in real time, just mealworms very slowly eating three cherries over 14 hours]
posted by chavenet at 3:17 PM on May 6 [2 favorites]

I've been keeping a mealworm colony at work* and recently its population has reached a point of density and voraciousness that they are essentially skeletonizing anything we put in there in within 24 hours. Our density is about 20% of that shown in the video, but this video is essentially capturing my imaginings of what transpired after I check to see what's left every morning and all the sweet potatoes, lettuce, vegetable oddments etc are entirely gone.
Pro tip for anyone who has a mealworm colony in their life, if you can cover the food with a dark dish (like used leancuisine microwave thingers) they will eat far more. The adults too. it's like they understand that no-one needs to see them at work.

* To feed out to our critters various(turtles, salamanders, toads, screech owls, fish). Last week, because I have all the instars (from wee little weenie to big honkers) of mealworm larvae available to me, I was able to feed a baby baby painted turtle a couple of tiny wittle mealworms before sending it on its way to the marsh. The baby ass garter snake did not want to partake, but at least I could offer, before, again, sending them back on their way.
posted by Cold Lurkey at 5:09 PM on May 6 [2 favorites]

I'm a bit terrified to learn there's a snake called an "ass garter". And I don't even want to know how it got that name.
posted by hippybear at 6:12 PM on May 6 [2 favorites]

tbh I'm more impressed by the way they destroy those annoying little plastic fruit labels than that they seem unflustered by riot squad levels of capsaicin.
posted by flabdablet at 9:58 PM on May 6