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How to Make a Mealworm Playground

Lesser, yellow and dark meal worms develop in four stages: egg, larva, pupa and adult. They breathe via small holes on their bellies. You may find them as a pest eating through foods in your pantry, and they can be fed as bait to fish, food to aquatic animals or eaten up by bluebirds and other wildlife in your backyard. Because they eat rotten food and animal feces, the worms are liable to carry diseases, and should be handled carefully.

Things You'll Need

Shoe box
Scissors
Rolled oats
Rubber gloves

Instructions

- 1
  Set the shoe box on a flat surface, such as a table.
- 2
  Poke holes in the top cover of the box with the scissors to allow the meal worms to breathe. Set the top on the flat surface.
- 3
  Pour a bed of rolled oats in the bottom of the box. Put on the rubber gloves.
- 4
  Pick up the meal worms and set them inside the box. Pour more rolled oats over them; they feed on the oats.
- 5
  Cover the box with the top, and set the box inside the refrigerator to preserve the worms, ensuring the box is nowhere near any other foods or liquids.

Insects & Science