Are there things mealworms CAN'T eat?

This video shows you the things mealworms can eat happily, and things that are not theri favorites or they can't eat them at all.
This is a fast paced compilation, featuring a lot of mealworm time lapse footage I shot during the years.
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#timelapse #mealworms #photoowl #macro

[@PhotoOwl]

Based on this video, can you come up with something they probably can't eat?

[@kieraadvani7151]

​@Don't Read My Profile Picture ok

[@kieraadvani7151]

Hmm a coconut shell?

[@griffadragon]

I'm pretty sure they can't eat a coconut

[@lycanoregaming8443]

Nokia 3310 😤😎 I bet they can't decompose it

[@godofamericans]

a rock

[@damiencouturee6240]

"I took away the honey to prevent harm to the mealworms, then fed them a pack of Marlboros" lol

[@corypalmer5495]

lol

[@Tijopi11]

What got me was removing the honey to prevent harm to the meal worms, immediately followed by giving them an insect-eating carnivorous plant and showing closeups of meal worms getting trapped and dying.

[@Zyroes]

@@Tijopi11 It's been a while since I've seen that video, but I don't remember any of them actually dying. The ones you see get grabbed make their way out later.

[@thegamiac9539]

Meal worms are typically bigger than venus fly trap mouths so even if they get caught they can wiggle out

[@Chineseisntalanguageapparently]

Eating tobacco isn’t bad, just smoking it

[@naeemaflannigan8894]

Mealworms eating better than me ig🥲

[@Donuts_random_stuff]

Relatable 😂

[@AlterLynx]

They get to eat Styrofoam but I don't 😡

[@yamiruizofficial]

​@@AlterLynx Bro in 2021 I ate plastic

[@ThankMeNowBro]

With a name like Mealworm I'd hope so xD

[@Konpekikaminari]

My friend, they got gold-coated Wagyu They be eating better than _all of us_

[@NoPantsBaby]

"They didn't really like Surstroming" Shows the rotted fish killing these worms.

[@ayankhaznawi]

they literally fucking died in packs LMFAO

[@emillazzaroni5854]

I thought the same lol it nearly decimated them

[@nishanth6403]

​@@ayankhaznawinasty 😂😂

[@marksasoldier]

It's double brined and fermented. I suspect the salt acted as a severe deterrent.

[@knutsenneundorf116]

Good point with the salt, and I would also guess that this kind of ammoniac that surstroming smells like soo badly has something to do with it.😅

[@SwordTune]

Mealworms seeing Swedish food: "Look, there are some lines even I don't cross."

[@Pelagion98]

And then they immediately gobbled up the styrofoam cube. Because apaprently actual plastic is more edible than Scandinavian "food".

[@blobbertmcblob4888]

Fun fact: They recently found out that wax worms can not only eat plastic, but survive on it as well, their guts convert the plastic into matter their bodies can get nutrients from.

[@alf3071]

So we should gather all plastic waste and feed them, or sprinkle the worms on plastic waste

[@NootalieWalf]

Only to be promptly fed to someone’s leopard gecko 😂

[@kai_fatallysapphic]

clarification for anyone who may be unaware: wax worms and mealworms are different insects, wax worms are moths but mealworms are darkling beetles :)

[@tashoncoleman5480]

​@rhayembensassi2370 plastic doesn't decompose, it just breaks down into smaller bits over time

[@Gr3nadgr3gory]

​@@tashoncoleman5480unless it gets eaten by a wax worm or something. Then it degrades normally.

[@Photon210]

When he took out an A5 wagyu steak, cooked it to perfection, covered it in gold film and tossed it to the worms ... my soul died a little

[@fujiwaranonekobiodrando1257]

AAAAAAAAAA THEY'RE EATING BETTER THAN ME

[@kanwarpamnani3780]

Cooked it to perfection? Bro the side area is still uncooked and middle is barely red

[@fujiwaranonekobiodrando1257]

@@kanwarpamnani3780 It's a steak.

[@kanwarpamnani3780]

@@fujiwaranonekobiodrando1257 I can see that

[@fujiwaranonekobiodrando1257]

@@kanwarpamnani3780 Oh really? How many fingers I'm holding up🖐️

[@theultimatehoomanperson6701]

"to prevent harm to the mealworms" 3:06 Half the mealworms die

[@alienelephant4721]

SWEDISH FOOD = POISON

[@lakeswirl6985]

⁠@@ImAmirusi don’t think they can recognize honey removed from a hive as associated with bees

[@loqueestamal3465]

Reincarnated As a Mealworm in Some Dude's KZbin Channel and It's Not So Bad After All.

[@meep_171]

Until you get hit with the Surströmming that is

[@ameranthine661]

Even here in Sweden, Surströmming is an acquired taste, I've had it several times and each time I almost throw up. Though last time I had it It wasn't as bad so maybe the next 2 or 3 or so times I might find it.. passable. Seeing mealworms not want to eat it doesn't surprise me at all.

[@WouterStudioHD]

It also seems the only food where they literally died

[@RryhhbfrHhgdHhgd356]

Is it salted? Might have cured the mealworms alive. 😬

[@LoLaSn]

@@RryhhbfrHhgdHhgd356 It is very salty

[@TimJBucci]

What about if you haven't eaten anything for a day or two? I always find disgusting food is usually tastier and easier to consume if I'm starving...

[@toantruonghuu2833]

@@LoLaSn probably too salty which kills some of them trying to digest it, I don't think they hate the taste or smell.

[@maxymjobin660]

That surstromming really killed them LOL

[@duppy404]

Lmaoaoao

[@Katsunai]

When surstromming is more potent than plastic

[@censored_dream]

salt...

[@LazyVoxel]

Yeah I was going to say. Then right after he said he stoped the honey one to avoid harm lmaoo

[@k1ng453]

Bruh meal worms be eating golden stakes while I’m eating canned soup

[@lif6737]

Lately I feel like canned soup is too expensive

[@dreaming_of_you11]

0:30 End of debate, you can't eat stickers on apples.

[@fur_avery]

those worms ate a fucking block of styrofoam

[@dreaming_of_you11]

@@fur_averyLOL

[@csvscs]

Golden

[@kidfromtownwithnoname3595]

2:10 bro really put edible gold on a Japanese steak just to give it to mealworms 💀💀

[@flowermoney222]

Guess how many steak POTL ordered for the mealworms. I rec the longer version of the vid

[@freetousebyjtc]

the steak is the expensive part, the gold leaves are cheap lol

[@LINNNNN2010]

This broke my heart.... I paid 120 for a tiny piece in a restaurant and he just feed such a big one to the worms😢

[@trenvert123]

And they didn't even eat it

[@jamescheddar4896]

was worth checking to see if it would end up in their exoskeletons or something

[@lanychabot-laroche135]

The Surströmming is the only one where all the worms around it seem to stop moving. Did they die, or just become numb from the odor?

[@cooliipie]

They look dead. I'd stay away from that

[@TerminatorZXY]

When even fucking mealworms are disgusted by surströmming 💀

[@TheImmilky]

​@@cooliipie you're not a mealworm.

[@peterlustig2048]

@@TheImmilky Did you really just assume his animal-type???

[@jameselliott216]

​@@peterlustig2048yes, yes he insensitivity did. I, on the other hand, recognize ALL people I encounter that are tree sloths as tree sloths.

[@CrollexTMOfficial]

2:55 nah fam they straight up just gave up on living after that one 💀

[@Fatso-to-fit]

Brooo you close on three quarters of a million Let's goooo I really enjoy when you upload

[@konstantinsuvorov2570]

Interesting compilation. The last part with plastic was the most interesting one. Never knew they could do that. Thanks for sharing and exploring!

[@San-lh8us]

that's exactly why they have been more and more cultivaded, they can eat the plastics, and their excrements can be later used as fertilizer, i'm not sure they can sustain on just plastic though, but they can still be useful, the only problem is that they grow into beetles that don't seem able to do the same, so they only have a few weeks to do that before they go into metamorphosis

[@dieptrieu6564]

@@San-lh8us But wouldn't that make their feces high on plastic atom. Which is harmful and poisonous if you try to fertilize the plant with it

[@San-lh8us]

@@dieptrieu6564 i'm not a specialist, but apparently, their digestive system on larval state can biodegrade the plastic, remember that plastic is basically a bunch of carbon, oxygen and hydrogen atoms( and a bit of other stuff sometimes), all of which are not poisonous nor harmful to plants by themselves, it's the loooong chains that they form when in plastic form, so the worms can break up the plastic in a way that it becomes biodegradable, so other living beings can also process it, that's very basically how it works, but again, i'm not a specialist, so there might be more to it

[@thedarkone9552]

​@@San-lh8us mealworms don't really help with disposing the plastic. They simply act as a shredder, cutting it and excreting it later. What remains is microplastic which doesn't go anywhere.

[@thedarkone9552]

@@chinchepunta not so much really. Only some of it. Besides, it's very bad for their health

[@atlasphi]

These mealworms surely have a good life 😂

[@5amH45lam]

I'd have been tempted to taste one of those mealworms after they'd gorged on the peppers. I just wonder if they'd be spicy, or if they metabolically broke the spiciness down into some other element (glucose, starch, or whatever)...? 🤔

[@lavapop1900]

🤮

[@awesomepandaxxa6264]

If you take protein then you have :)

[@cozebilirmisin1872]

​@@awesomepandaxxa6264are you sure? I dont think insects are used on making of protein powder? Sure there is insect powder but i dont think they are even remotely popular

[@Bob_Adkins]

If soon, better have a glass of milk ready. If 2 days, little or no heat.

[@thomasvlaskampiii6850]

The KZbin compression algorithm just LOVES the mealworm time lapses. But I love them more

[@bhinoyj]

The way you describe them is like a favourite pet. Like you know them and deeply care for them.

[@Roman-mr9zx]

The fact they are basically his pet weirds me out. I wonder what this guy does on his free time

[@Bandita1001]

Maybe videos of worms? Nah, that would be too sci-fi.

[@kayusentertainment]

The amount he has can open a business

[@gracemana1641]

Ewww

[@tats2059]

​@@Roman-mr9zxthis is precisely what he does in his free time. Let a guy have a hobby

[@Catzzyz]

The fact that these guys eat everything from plastics to cigarettes, and only left surströmming untouched is pure comedy gold. edit: I like how the comments here under my comment about surströmming turned into 'tomato is a fruit' , 'no. f U. tomato is vegetable' etc. I love the internet. There's always random crap to fight about, I guess 😂

[@LucasGabriel-xz8nk]

I thought the same

[@alf3071]

❤

[@Goat-vy2bi]

They DIED of it 😂😂😂😂

[@alanwatts8239]

Even nature knows that shit isn't edible

[@youreverythingchannel9490]

They looked dead tho. Lmfao

[@joycesilly]

i think mealworms are adorable ❤❤❤❤

[@straightupgamer354]

OMG I LOVE YOUR CHANNEL HAHAHA

[@nerevaldotheminotaurskelet4192]

Mealworms aren't called by that because they are a good food source for your pet lizard or something. They are called mealworms because they will make a meal out of everything they can eat, and it's awesome.

[@CrniWuk]

In Germany we call them "Mehlwürmer" which means directly translated "Flourworm".

[@Guldfisken90]

Pretty much the same in Danish "Melorm"@@CrniWuk

[@teemupuumalainen3051]

They literally died eating the surströmming 😅 Swedes are something else

[@DeepVeinThrombonus]

These worms eat better than I do...I feel like that says something about me

[@TheXDayDreamerx]

This is so fascinating.

[@vidyagaems4063]

The "burn" from hot peppers isn't actually coming from taste receptors, but from heat receptors. It's also not universal, since birds are not affected by it. So it's not surprising that mealworms would not care.

[@1marcelfilms]

why are there heat receptors in my ass

[@classarank7youtubeherokeyb63]

Yep, it seems to be specifically meant for mammals.

[@testingthings]

explains why my lips would burn when i dranked hotsauce once

[@xcobyxzei]

Wow I never thought I’d have such respect for mealworms 😯👏🏼

[@un-taimmusic9229]

i used to have a pixie frog, and used to buy these guys all the time, i love running my hands through a bucket of them, feels so satisfying

[@lif6737]

I’m glad I’m not the only one. It’s honestly so relaxing

[@pontaponpon4391]

3:36 worms together strong

[@FineappleRyan]

This is EXACTLY what I was hoping for after you posted your Wagyu video and I noticed a lot of the worms dying off. Thanks for the educational video!

[@JatPhenshllem]

Why do they die off before maturing to adulthood?

[@RryhhbfrHhgdHhgd356]

@@JatPhenshllem Just not a good food for them.

[@davidd2661]

@@JatPhenshllem maybe the salt concentration killed them (dehydration)

[@YoureSoCreezy]

It looked like sustroming killed any mealworms that got within 2 inches of it 😂

[@adamluong8483]

bro’s giving these mealworms the luxury they eat

[@mlpfanboy1701]

1:17 of course they are not detured by the heat, it only effects mammals. birds, fish and worms are not effected.

[@christopherthompson5400]

deterred * also i had no clue that only mammals can taste capsaicin. I'd love to see a platypus eat a carolina reaper now.

[@ofentsentshabele4362]

It's so wild how u present the food to the meal worms with garnish😂

[@getass3290]

Bro cooked a Wagyu steak then covered it in gold 😭

[@ofentsentshabele4362]

@@getass3290 dude my jaw dropped 😭🤣

[@xofox_studio]

I like this kind of video format. It's informative, quick and unique than many of your awesome time lapse videos. I'll consider this video a 'special treat' 👍

[@bulkvanderhuge9006]

All I can think about watching these videos is the speech that "Brick Top" gives in the movie "Snatch" talking about how many pigs it takes to dispose of a human body.

[@firestorm8265]

“Are there things mealworms can’t eat?” Me: uranium 235

[@denisekyles4299]

4:02 did anybody else mistaken it for a sugar cube? 😅

[@Xternal47]

Kept meal worms before a whole box of them as food for my arowana. They are quite interesting and very fascinating to watch when they feed. You can literally feed them almost anything and they will eat, just make sure to remove whatever is left after an hour to prevent mold and decay. They also smell really good when cooked, with some people even commenting they taste like peanut butter.

[@ligma6992]

I WILL NOT EAT THE BUGS

[@GeorgeZaharia]

this mealworms having better dinners then most of us lmao

[@JohnMarston-wd7tv]

This man gave mealworms gold plated wagyu. What a guy

[@thenerdbeast7375]

I like how you cut the experiments short when the food presented danger to the mealworms, such as with the rotting melon or the honey. While animals like mealworms are often thought of as "expendable" they are still living creatures that should be treated ethically if they aren't causing harm.

[@moeyy1224]

fax

[@clementdato6328]

Except if it were mosquitos

[@thenerdbeast7375]

@@clementdato6328 Note the "not causing harm" part.

[@theuncalledfor]

@@thenerdbeast7375 Mosquitoes not only cause harm, they ARE harm. Their very existence is a blight upon this world.

[@aidentaylor6671]

lool the guy said i had to cut the experiment short to insure no harm to the meal worms, then in the very next scene theres a worm hanging out the mouth of a venis fly trap been impaled by its teeth.

[@MasterOP1000]

3:25 Then the Hunter becomes the Hunted HAHA!

[@jaela02]

I ❤ this channel and how yoh really care for your little friends and also how you educate your viewers. Good work.

[@quinnnyra8733]

Those worms eating better food than me 😂😂

[@Ali3nh3art]

Surströmming killed them all 😭💀

[@a.h.5296]

I don’t know why I watched this but I’m strangely glad I did!

[@ToyotaYaris-ft1ro]

this is what new york after 11 pm is like

[@RGC_animation]

Given enough time (and replacement mealworms), they could eat anything, and honestly I would like to see maybe a couple hundred hours timelapse where they actually finish the undesirable part of their meal.

[@cameronschyuder9034]

Even the surstromming? LOL

[@unknowngod8221]

they should try eating the universe ☠️

[@Mockermay]

watching time lapse videos of these worms is my stress reliever

[@ewdryk2989]

Amazing work, dude.

[@HarveyBirdMans]

Bro you got them eating better than me 😂

[@evermore4487]

Ok, I had to laugh at the part with the honey... Ending the experiment as to not harm the mealworms... Then the very next segment shows them in the jaws of a carnivorous plant. 😅 Great compilation. Start to finish.

[@caffeinatedpossum]

Out of curiosity, how often do you have to buy new mealworms? After a certain point they'd eventually try to pupate into their full Darkling Beetle glory

[@Nickher_321]

He definitely breeds them himself. Mealworms only live a few months in the larvae form, and buying them to the scale in these videos would be absurdly expensive

[@Vantlash56]

​@@Nickher_321nah man, you can get a bag like his for less than 10 bucks

[@asute]

They are commercially available in bulk and are typically available in containers with bran or oatmeal for food. Commercial growers incorporate a juvenile hormone into the feeding process to keep the mealworm in the larval stage and achieve an abnormal length of 2 cm or greater. - from the Wikipedia page of mealworms

[@isawadelapradera6490]

I'll tell you a secret. The beetle lays mealworm eggs.

[@christopherstein2024]

@@asute 2cm isn't abnormal length for a meal worm at all. Maybe 2 inches.

[@jirikrulis2853]

wow, just rushed through the video but that last point (plastic) is astonishing. this is definitely some useful knowledge, good job and carry on doing what're into, cheers

[@Anarchers]

Eating polystyrene...do they digest polystyrene, or is it excreted in the faeces. If the former they would be very useful. Does anybody know? Thanks for sharing

[@MikeHenry0001]

Can we just take a moment to appriciate how much time and hardwork does this man puts into his viteos...

[@onlysnowflakesreplytomycom2080]

3:10 did it kill them?

[@ErSniffador]

yes

[@Zhtupidity]

They starved

[@JojoSmacks]

Yeah it seems to have killed them

[@chalrie54]

Lol, way to understate the surstromming. It literally killed them. 😂

[@polyaro2504]

The fact that the camera man held the camera for over 80 days without sleeping or moving or dropping the camera is crazy

[@fierylightning3422]

having a phobia of worms this video was a trip for me

[@zeta3498]

Love that you make sure the little guys aren’t harmed 💪 Very awesome.

[@QuackersMcCrackers]

*Proceeds to feed the mealworms to a venus flytrap*

[@terminusest9179]

To be fair, even most humans would probably not want to eat surstromming anyway.

[@AnonymousAlcoholic772]

How disgustingly amazing. You horrify and enthrall me at the same times. Kudos and curses to you!

[@commandcracker42]

2:04 Why did you buy them an A5 Wagyu isnt this expensive af ¿ und gut zu wissen, dass du Österreicher bist :D

[@Arkvfv]

3:30 rip. The hero was fighting off a whole army.

[@thebrownlizard3988]

amazing video, bro your words eat better than i do haha , i never had japoanses steak with gold leafs before dgood for those worms they are living the lifE !!!

[@axcelzedd]

please post a video on how you remove the food debris and help keep the colony container clean

[@ieatnoodls]

Amazing! I never gave mealworms a closer attention, but they're kinda cool after all :D

[@chroniclesoflaura]

Love the possibilities of using creatures such as mealworms to tackle our plastic problem 👍🏻

[@Tiago211287]

Love your channel!

[@MuzikBike]

While they might not have enjoyed the honeycomb, I'm curious as to whether pure beeswax would be something mealworms would be able to eat. The honey itself may have posed a physical boundary that, if absent, could have allowed them to sample the wax content easier. And if we're feeding them beeswax, why not also try paraffin wax? If they can digest synthetic polymers such as polystyrene, it'd be interesting to see them try other solid petroleum derivatives as well, especially if they liked pure beeswax.

[@kindlethekitsune]

I love mealworms. Not only because of their appetite, but because of the protein they carry. My pets love their mealworm treats! ❤

[@iminindonesia]

thank you for the wonderful content. this 5 minute video has so many education about mealworm

[@tip69420]

The only thing I’m shocked at is how meal worms can escape Venus fly traps😂😂😂

[@_Dio_Brando_69]

Imagine giving a piece of the highest grade and most expensive beef in the world to mealworms, and they don't even eat it

[@lenrussell2424]

Honey is also contains a toxic % of sugar. Which is perfectly safe for animals which drink their water sepparately, rather than getting it from their food, as they/we can water down the honey in their stomachs.

[@onigate]

they seem like me and my relatives at Christmas's dinner 😁

[@supafr3ak4l1fe]

Damn these meal worms be eatting better than me 😂😂😂😂

[@drax2gma]

Magyar lépesméz? Ez igen! :) Szép munka, jók a videók! Keep up the good work!

[@csibesz07]

Nem biztos, hogy magyarok...

[@adammick3224]

The plastics are fascinating! I have never seen an animal able to eat plastic before.

[@theyliedtoyouaboutworldwar1944]

Yeah wtf? He said eat and digest. They really can digest that?

[@albertobarbosa5960]

@They lied to you about world war two just because the worms can chew up plastic and pass it through their body, does not mean that they are able to extract nutrition from plastic. Thus the worms will die of starvation on a diet of only Styrofoam. A person can chew up a plastic bag and possibly get it through their digestive tract but what plastic processing had occurred?

[@awesomearthropods4189]

@@theyliedtoyouaboutworldwar1944 I have a mealworm farm and yes, they can eat and digest it

[@theyliedtoyouaboutworldwar1944]

@@awesomearthropods4189 and plastic doesnt kill them? How much time a mealworm live?

[@arkadiuszlee407]

​@@awesomearthropods4189 Could you give them plastic and then check what is left as they digest it 🤔 If they poop out microplasic then unfortunatly we cant use them for cleaning waste

[@alessavictoria]

LMAO the fact that they didnt touch the surstromming 😂

[@baker7647]

Was half expecting this man to just drop a dead body in there

[@ladymadeline3595]

I mean, Surstromming, the "Swedish Delicacy" is rotting / fermented fish, so ... Yea lol. They all died when trying to eat that. Idk if it's because of the rot, or the alcohol though.

[@NotActuallyRealYT]

Hey I really like your videos! Could you do a freezing fruit video? Like a timelapse of a fruit submerged in clear ice for a couple of months, would be interesting to observe if ice slows the rotting

[@amybeck9161]

First off hearing you narrate the video was an awesome treat for some reason I had a totally different voice for you in my head . Now with that said I wonder if you've ever tried medications in their diets ? Seeing that the researchers are finding high levels of certain ones in our water supplies. If the meal worms could destroy unused medications that could help the world with contamination in our water supply ? Thank you for all of your excruciatingly hard work .❤🦉

[@TheSnidr]

The voice sounds AI generated

[@amybeck9161]

@@TheSnidr Ahhhh that makes sense , Than you .

[@TaffLaffy]

“Dude! The cops are coming where do we hide the body?” “ *BRING OUT THE MEALWORMS.* “ (This is a joke btw)

[@DVnc_]

😂😂

[@Visperrapa]

Oh my gosh that's actually genius😭

[@101k_with_no_video]

@@Visperrapa that'd take more than a month for the mealworms to finish.

[@Visperrapa]

@@101k_with_no_video I mean, well atleast we'll get a decoy skeleton by the time halloween comes🥲

[@MrNickPresley]

Nah, you'd want pigs for that sort of thing. A half-dozen hungry pigs can eat something like 300lbs of meat in under 15 minutes.

[@cyryc]

now we just need a timelapse of the mealworms being eaten

[@WildScreamMLBB]

mealworms vs thoothpaste?

[@ericolivecarmona7871]

01:02 noooooo, cactonio!

[@irateeverything351]

"Hey I need some insulation removed" Contractor *shows up with a dump truck of mealworms

[@disuser-lp3qv1tm8f]

Next step, mealworms take down buildings.

[@Smoto_ASMR]

Lucky worms, they are the best fed worms on the planet! Their menu is quite impressive😀

[@dylanjamesfoster2720]

HOLY. This was incredible, and I'll start my own mealworm fertilizer farm for my at-home crops. Thank you for the more in-depth look!

[@YourHandsomeCrush]

"So, do you have a pet?" "Yes, it's a worm" "Uuuhhh....Like literally a worm???" "Mealworms, millions of them" "ok"

[@XavierAway]

I’m impressed with your artificial voice, it sounds quite authentic usually

[@cifty]

3:55 those worms must be really high

[@At_rgb]

High? Tf you talking about