Both experiments were conducted with 250 mealworms, 5 g of styrofoam, and 2g of PE film (1/2 plastic bag) with controlled variables were fed to the mealworms over a 6 day period.

Experiment 1: Solid

MW1- Styrofoam coated with honey-water solution:

MW2- Clean Styrofoam:

MW3- Styrofoam with Sandwich residue:

MW4- 1/2 PE bag:

Experiment 2: Shredded Substrate

MW1- Clean Shredded Styrofoam:

MW2- Shredded Styrofoam coated with honey-water solution:

MW3- Shredded Styrofoam with Sandwich residue:

MW4- Shredded 1/2 PE bag:

Conclusion:

The mealworms favored the honey-water solution in both experiments. The food residue had most problems with humidity in container as well as least consumed plastic. For styrofoam, the solid results showed degradation in the form of tunneling due to it being the structure the mealworms crawled on. The Styrofoam as a shredded substrate was slightly less eaten than the solid due to the mealworms age and lower appetite, but does also show the shiney exterior film being chewed off to reveal the matte middle of the foam and edges are chewed and wavy, and a few holes are found. The plastic bag had more holes for tunneling in the solid state, and had more consumption when shredded and used as the live-in substrate.

Experiment Results