Effect of Food Availability on the Rate of Zophobas morio (Coleoptera: Tenebrionidae) (F.) Pupation

Authors

  • Cross Chambers Texas A&M University

Abstract

Zophobas morio (Coleoptera: Tenebrionidae) (F.) larvae are insects that can be found at most pet stores. The larvae are common sources of food for insectivorous pets, but there is a new interest in the potential for these as sources food for humans. The aim of this study was to determine whether the absence of food would affect the time it takes for the larvae to pupate. Larvae were divided into two groups: one with food and one without food. The days it took the larvae to reach the pupal stage were monitored and noted. By the end of the thirty days that were dedicated to this study, only six of the fourteen larvae had pupated. Larvae that either did not pupate or died during the length of the experiment were recorded with a value of zero. Raw data indicated that the group without food pupated nearly twice as fast as the group that did have food. However, the results of a one-tail independent t-test showed that there was no statistically significant difference between the two groups. The t stat value for this test, 0.46, was not greater than the t critical one-tail value, 1.81, indicating that the larvae did not pupate faster in either group and the null hypothesis could not be rejected. The results of this test could have been a due to the small sample size in this experiment as four larvae from one group and two larvae from another group are not a large enough sample to gather accurate data.

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Published

2022-01-27