Meal-worm

Meal-worm, the larva of a small black beetle, Tenebrio molitor, allied to the common Blaps (q.v.). Both adults and larvae are too common about bakeries, granaries, and stores, for the eggs are laid in meal, flour, and similar food-stuffs, on which the emerging larvae feed voraciously. The adult resembles Blaps, and is about half an inch long; the larva is decidedly longer, thin and round, yellowish in colour. An American species, T. obscurus, has also become common in Britain. The preventive is thorough cleanliness. The mealworms are often used as food for cage-birds.