The Effect Temperatures has on Respiration Rates of Superworms (Zophobas morio)

Abstract

Ectotherms’ metabolic rate is highly affected by changes in temperature.  We are interested in performing our own experiment to view the changes in metabolic rate of superworms (Zophobas morio) by measuring the CO₂ production.  Ten superworms were randomly selected and subjected to three temperatures at which we measured the CO₂ levels over the course of five minutes in small respiration chambers.  There was an increase in CO₂ production between our cold and room temperature trials, but an unexpected decrease between our room temperature and hot trials.  Our findings did not reflect the typical behavior of ectothermic respiration rates due to an instrumental error or potentially reaching the upper critical temperature of superworms.