https://www.feedipedia.org/node/16401
Description
Mealworms are the larvae of two species of darkling beetles of the Tenebrionidae family, the yellow mealworm beetle (Tenebrio molitor Linnaeus, 1758), and the smaller and less common dark or mini mealworm beetle (Tenebrio obscurus Fabricius, 1792). Mealworm beetles are indigenous to Europe and are now distributed worldwide. Tenebrio molitor is a pest of grain, flour and food stores, but often not of much importance since populations are quite small (Ramos-Elorduy et al., 2002). Mealworms are easy to breed and feed, and have a valuable protein profile. For these reasons, they are produced industrially as feed for pets and zoo animals, including birds, reptiles, small mammals, batrachians and fish. They are usually fed live, but they are also sold canned, dried, or in powder form (Aguilar-Miranda et al., 2002; Hardouin et al., 2003; Veldkamp et al., 2012).