A Comparative study of the Metabolic Rates and Surface Area-to-Volume Ratios of Mealworms and Superworms

Abstract

The experiment was conducted in order to properly bridge the gap in direct comparisons of the metabolic rates between superworms and mealworms, in relation to surface area and volume. Other similar studies that have been conducted address either mealworms, or superworms, but lack a comparative study, thus inspiring this experiment. To properly compare metabolism in relation to size, both the mealworms and superworms were weighed, and placed into small air tight chambers to measure metabolism. In the results, we found that the mealworms consumed more oxygen and had a higher metabolism rate than the superworms. This means that the mealworms were more active and consumed more oxygen, even though the superworms are larger in size.