Influence of canola hulls on gain in weight of larvae of the yellow mealworm, Tenebrio molitor L.

Larvae of the yellow mealworm, Tenebrio molitor L., Gembloux strain, race F, were reared on diets in which the protein component was supplied by defatted ground seed, defatted ground dehulled fraction, or defatted ground hulls of Brassica napus L. cv. Tower or Brassica campestris L. cv. Candle, obtained from autoclaved seed. They were also fed casein diets to which defatted ground hulls of Tower or Candle seed were added. Gain in weight was equally good for all diets containing Candle seed fractions and for diets containing Tower ground seed. However, it was lower for diets containing the ground dehulled fraction or the ground hulls of Tower. Addition of Candle hulls or of a mixture of equal proportions (w/w) of Candle and Tower hulls to diets containing dehulled Tower did not improve the gain in weight of larvae, compared with that of larvae fed diets containing the dehulled fraction, alone. Similar additions of Tower hulls or of the mixture to diets containing the dehulled fraction of Candle had no adverse effect on larval gain in weight, compared to that registered by larvae fed the dehulled fraction of Candle. Significant improvement in weight gain in comparison with that recorded for larvae fed the unsupplemented casein diet could not be demonstrated when ground hulls of Tower or Candle were added to this diet. Considered collectively, weight gains of larvae of T. molitor were consistently greater when Candle products were fed than when Tower products provided the protein fraction of the diet.