Mealworms are known for a lot of things, but it’s their huge appetite that really catches our attention. We have seen those videos of mealworms eating all kinds of stuff, so it seems they really like to eat. But can mealworms actually like or enjoy food? Do they taste it the way humans and other mammals do?
Mealworms do not have taste buds but are equipped with organs that can sense various types of food. Mealworms also have a mechanism that can distinguish tastes.
How Mealworms Taste Food
We can taste food because we have tongues. It allows us to detect different flavors, allowing us and other mammals to react to different tastes. But mealworms do not have tongues or organs specifically for taste. So how does a mealworm distinguish between different types of food sources?
Mealworms have sensory organs called sensilla, which are like tiny hairs that cover their bodies. These sensilla are responsible for various senses including touch, temperature, humidity and even taste to some extent. Sensilla does not function like our taste buds, but it plays a major role in the mealworms’ ability to detect different foods.
Research has shown that mealworms have a keen sense of taste. They are particularly sensitive to sugar, salt and bitter compounds. When exposed to different food sources, mealworms display various preferences and behaviors that suggest a tasting mechanism. They are more attracted to sweet substances and tend to avoid bitter or unpalatable compounds.
Unique Taste Capabilities
Researchers also discovered that mealworms have receptors similar to those in taste buds in other organisms. These receptors allow them to differentiate between different flavors and decide what to eat. It does not work like taste buds in mammals, but this does allow mealworms to distinguish between flavors. But scientists are not sure yet how refined their ability to distinguish between flavors is.
One study showed that when given multiple food options, mealworms will often choose foods that contain higher sugar concentrations, suggesting their preference for it.
Further supporting the argument that mealworms have taste capabilities is their ability to learn and associate flavors with rewards. Researchers have successfully conditioned mealworms to consume certain foods by pairing them with positive stimuli. This is indicative of a taste system that allows them to recognize and remember specific flavors.
While mealworms may not have the typical taste bud of mammals, there is no question they can and do distinguish between different flavors. Research also shows they prefer certain tastes over others. Based on the latest research, the sensilla and other receptors are the ones which make this possible. .
Related. Do Mealworms Need Water?
Do Mealworms Prefer Specific Flavors?
We don’t usually think of mealworms as picky eaters. That’s why they are being considered a solution for waste management for instance. But based on the latest findings, mealworms prefer certain flavors when given a choice.
Sweets
Like many other organisms, mealworms have a preference for sweet substances. In fact, researchers have found that they have prefer to consume sugary substances compared to plain water. This preference for sweetness may be related to their natural food sources such as ripe fruits or nectar from flowers.
Mealworms have also shown a liking for umami, the savory taste present in foods like mushrooms and meat. Umami is a unique flavor that comes from glutamate, an amino acid. In a study examining mealworm feeding behavior, researchers found that they had a higher intake of food with added monosodium glutamate (MSG), an umami flavor enhancer. This suggests they possess taste receptors that respond positively to umami tastes.
Bitter
Research also shows that mealworms don’t seem to like bitter flavors. This taste is often an indicator of potential toxins in nature, so that could the reason. But they are capable of consuming food with bitter flavors, though they will avoid if other options are available. This again shows their ability to make out different flavors and choose among them.
I have to emphasize that these studies are about mealworms in general. It is possible that individual mealworms may exhibit some variations in taste preferences just as humans do.
Factors such as age, past experiences and the nutritional composition of the food can influence their choices. Nonetheless, researchers have observed consistent patterns indicating some fondness for sweetness and umami while being less sensitive to bitterness.
Why It Matters
Why does this matter?
Understanding how mealworms taste and perceive flavors has significant implications. It could lead to advancements in the field of entomophagy (the consumption of insects as food). If you use mealworms as animal feed, you’ll want to gut load them first. Knowing what they like and don’t like to eat makes a difference here.
This study also contributes to a better understanding of sensory systems in insects. This may also have practical applications in pest control or the agriculture industry.
If you are an insect farmer, knowing what mealworms prefer to eat is a crucial part of the business. it can make the difference between healthy and unhealthy larvae.
This is also important for researchers and scientists who are exploring their potential applications in waste management and animal feed production. If we can get a better understanding of what mealworms prefer to eat, it can make a significant difference in animal feed production. It can also be useful in waste management.
How Mealworms Eat
Regardless of what mealworms prefer to eat, there is no question they are less picky than most mammals. They also have an amazing ability to digest and absorb all kinds of food and materials that other animals cannot eat. This is possible because of their digestive tract, which makes it easy for mealworms to digest food and absorb their nutrients.
The digestion process begins when a mealworm chews food with their mouthparts. They don’t have teeth like mammals but have specialized jawbones for chewing and grinding food. Their jawbones evolved to eat mostly plant matter, vegetables, fruits and grains.
Once food is swallowed, it travels into the esophagus and enters the crop. The crop is a storage area for food that allows mealworms to consume large quantities. It serves as a reservoir where food is temporarily held and moistened before further digestion.
Absorption
From the crop, the food moves into the proventriculus, a small muscular organ that grinds the food. It uses chitinous plates to efficiently break down larger particles.
Next, the partially digested food enters the midgut or gastric caeca. This region of the digestive tract is where enzymes like amylases, lipases, and proteases are secreted. These are used to break down complex carbohydrates, fats, and proteins. These enzymes also aid in the chemical breakdown of food into smaller molecules. This is necessary so they can be absorbed by a mealworm’s cells.
Into Nutrients
The digested food passes into the hindgut, which includes the ileum, colon and rectum. Here, water absorption occurs, ensuring the nutrients are absorbed into the system.
The hindgut also contains symbiotic bacteria that help mealworms break down cellulose, a complex carbohydrate. Mealworms need the bacteria because they won’t be able to break it down without them.
Once the digestion process is complete, the waste material or frass is excreted. Frass consists mainly of undigested plant materials and other indigestible components that mealworms were unable to break down or extract nutrients from. Frass is often called “black gold” because it has a lot of useful benefits.
As you can see, mealworms have a complex digestive process. This is necessary for them to be able to absorb all the food they eat. Whether the food is sweet, bitter, umami or some other flavor, the digestive process is the same.
Conclusion
Although mealworms do not possess taste buds as humans do, their sensory organs and specialized receptors allow them to taste and respond to different flavors. They show preferences for certain tastes and can learn to associate flavors with positive or negative stimuli. For anyone who is raising mealworms, this information can mak a huge difference in how they are managed.
