Superworm experiment for class!

[Elora]

Hey guys!

In my ecology lab class we were asked to conduct an experiment over the semester outside of class. I have decided to do my experiment with superworms becuase i have been thinking about breeding them anyways. This experiment of course will not be something that will harm the superworms. I was thinking something like testing different temperatures and how long it takes them to pupate or different lighting ect..

anyone have any ideas?

 

[ajkry2]

That sounds like a great idea!

I say you research what is "best" for breeding supers, use that as a constant. Then vary
1) the temps and humidity
2) food
3) substrate

You can record how fast they grow, pupate, smells, ummmm

Thats what i got off the top of my head. Keep us up to date -- sounds fascinating :study:

 

[beardieaddict]

hmm that sounds pretty cool maybe diffrent lighting or heat will make them pupate faster that sounds like something alot of people on here would like to know especially people that breed them...might get expensive though

 

[h0ndap0w3r]

viewtopic.php?f=76&t=100703&hilit=

you can check out that link, i did alot of the work for you. . . but feel free to use the info however you would like. . . some things that i would consider is:

having light when pupating vs no light
higher temps (above 90 Lower then 100) vs lower temps (around 70-80)
controlled temps (think incubator) vs non controlled temps ( ie. leaving them in the closet)
substrate in the cups vs no substrate
clear vs black cups

thats about all i can think of and are variations of what i have done. . . just fyi the fastest i could pupate a worm was 6-7 days, around 85 degress with light, no substrate. Beetles emerge within 20. . . the whole cycle takes less then a month. . . generally if the worms don't pupate by day 10 they die. Also im sure you know that you are going to have to use a rather large sample size, i dont know whats acceptable by your professor but you should also look into that because otherwise your going to have a couple 100 beetles, which would lead to somewhere around 20k ish supers i would believe, since 60 gave me about 5k

 

[Elora]

THanks guys and thanks hondapow3r im definitely going to ask my professor how many i never thought of that!. he does research on cricket calls and praying mantis mating. Ill def be taking pictures and i even have to write a scientific paper on it so ill have all that available for you guys to check out by december!

 

[Twobeardieguy]

Let us no how you do!! Good luck!! :wink:

 

[invictusrules]

I seem to recall that my supers took many weeks, maybe months to go from large super to pupa to beetle to little squiglies that I could barely see. (Haha... they were cute! Hated to feed them off when they got bigger.) Be careful with your timing - don't want you to come up short with your data by the end of the term! :shock: