FlytrapCare Carnivorous Plant Forums

Which stage of a mealworm's life (Worm, pupae, beetle) is the most nutritious for a CP? Please do not skip this without replying, unless you really don't know.
If you know, but you are in a hurry, use the poll.

I voted worm, altrough is actually the larva stage. I think it has more nutrition for a cp. because is larger than a egg and i did not choose the adult beetle because it contains a exoskeleton wich adds to its mass and it is not nutritious.

roarke wrote:I voted worm, altrough is actually the larva stage. I think it has more nutrition for a cp. because is larger than a egg and i did not choose the adult beetle because it contains a exoskeleton wich adds to its mass and it is not nutritious.

Ah, I see, so the worm stage is the most nutritious then? Makes sense, thanks for the reply I Appreciate the help.

I believe that the beetle stage is the best because my friend's flytraps grew the most being fed that, and also mealworm larvae are pure exoskeleton. (They are actually bad to feed to young reptile because of the being mostly exo). Although if you will feed your flytraps anything I don't recommend mealworms as they have barely any fat wich is a bit of a waste of trap energy, and they can chew thrugh the trap leaves, it has happened before.

If I recall correctly, of the three stages the pupae have the least amount of chitin that boosts digestive enzyme production in venus flytraps. The head of the larvae can be crushed to prevent chewing, and I'd disagree that they're pure exoskeleton... But I don't know if there's enough of a significant difference in the nutrition to make a difference for a cp? If you're very worried about nutritional levels of insects you might try experimenting with gut loading insects beforehand and/or dusting them with supplemental powder?