Superworms vs Mealworms. THERES NO DIFFERENCE

[izz]

Okay heres the deal, i need to have a bit of a vent.

Now. I fed Mealworms to my adult Sparks and I was told to feed superworms insted. Personally I never had problems. No impaction, constipation and whatever else they could get from them.....

So I gave in and went to the Petstore closet to us AND guess what??

I bought a tub of supers got home and opened surprised to find that they look like a splitting image of a Mealworm. Same colour, size and shape.

I want to know why everyone says "Mealworm shell's can cause impaction" When clearly a Superworm is the same??

Im sorry if I sounded harsh . Its just that everone told me Mealies were bad and Supers were good but the are the same.


Please don't flame me . This wasn't pointed at anyone. It just bugged me, I want the best for Sparks and his wellbeing.

Please understand . Thanx Izzi and Sparks

 

[Gail]

If they look the same and are the same size, then one was mislabeled. Adult mealworms are uniformly tan and around 1 inch. An adult superworm is tan with a dark brown red end and is around 3 inches. The shells of a super are thinner and not as tough.

mealworms

supers, see how much darker they are?

There is a type of mealworm called a king or giant mealworm, they are regular mealies who have been feed steroids and get almost as big as a superworms. I've seen some places actually sell them as supers or regular mealies.

 

[Paradon]

Superworms are a little softer than mealworms.... Mealworms has a lot of chitin, which is indigestable. Superworms are better but still not as good as crickets and other softbodied worms, like silkworms, hornworms and phoenixworms.

 

[Menolly07]

In terms of Biology, there really is a difference between the two. Primarily, while they are both members of the darkling beetle (Tenebrionidae) family, their genuses are different. REAL superworms are from the genus Zophobas (species: Zophobas morio) and are like very large mealworms but have a larger size, softer body, lesser chitin and more "meat." Mealworms are of the genus Tenebrio (species: Tenebrio molitor). If you truly had Superworms that WERE just VERY large Mealworms that isn't the fault of them both being the same thing but, rather, the fault of an either mistaken or dishonest seller.

 

[izz]

Turns out they were mealworms in a Supers tub . Ive just been scammed.


I'll stick with mealies because ive never had probs. And he gets silkies as well as his roaches daily and grasshoppers whenever i catch one.

 

[Menolly07]

Lucky boy! I just started giving my little guy (almost nine weeks) a more diverse diet. He's been on Phoenix Worms, one of the US brand name black soldier fly larvae. I gave him his first hornworms, waxworms, silkies and supers yesterday. He sort of didn't seem to care about the supers. They're micros. The Silkies are WEIRD but fascinating!! The way they put their ends together and start to clump. Mine are all teeny sized because my beardie is bitty still.

Sorry you got the wrong ones. I'd be so mad as well. :-( I really hope somebody just made a mistake. It can happen. People go to fast and pay too little attention sometimes.