Eberle Stephan, Schaden Lisa-Marie, Tintner Johannes, Stauffer Christian, Schebeck Martin
Department of Forest and Soil Sciences, Institute of Forest Entomology, Forest Pathology and Forest Protection, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences Vienna, A-1190 Vienna, Austria.
LarveMe (Formerly DieWurmfarm), A-9433 St. Andrä, Austria.
Insects. 2022 Mar 24;13(4):321. doi: 10.3390/insects13040321.
Insects are a potential substitute for conventional meat and can be part of a sustainable human diet due to their valuable nutrients and relatively low environmental production impact. One species that is already produced for human consumption and livestock feed is the mealworm, i.e., larvae of . Knowledge of the effects of temperature, and particularly photoperiod, on mealworm development is scarce, but crucial for the improvement of rearing. Therefore, the effects of three temperatures (20 °C, 25 °C, and 30 °C), in combination with three photoperiods (long-day-16 h:8 h light:dark; short-day-8 h:16 h light:dark, and constant darkness) on mealworm survival, developmental time, and growth rate were tested. We describe a significant effect of temperature on survival rate, developmental time, and growth rate. Furthermore, significant effects of photoperiod on developmental time and growth rate were found. At 25 and 30 °C and constant darkness, the highest survival and growth rate, along with the shortest developmental time, were observed. Our data can be used to improve the mass rearing of mealworms for an efficient production of food and feed.
昆虫是传统肉类的潜在替代品，因其富含宝贵营养且对环境生产的影响相对较小，可成为可持续人类饮食的一部分。一种已用于人类食用和家畜饲料生产的昆虫是黄粉虫，即拟步甲科昆虫的幼虫。关于温度，尤其是光周期对黄粉虫发育影响的知识匮乏，但这对改进饲养至关重要。因此，测试了三种温度（20℃、25℃和30℃）与三种光周期（长日照——16小时光照：8小时黑暗；短日照——8小时光照：16小时黑暗，以及持续黑暗）对黄粉虫存活率、发育时间和生长速率的影响。我们描述了温度对存活率、发育时间和生长速率的显著影响。此外，还发现了光周期对发育时间和生长速率的显著影响。在25℃和30℃以及持续黑暗条件下，观察到了最高的存活率和生长速率以及最短的发育时间。我们的数据可用于改进黄粉虫的大规模饲养，以高效生产食品和饲料。
