The Effect of Light Conditions on the Metabolic Rate of Mealworms, Tenebrio molitor.

Abstract

Mealworms, Tenebrio molitor, are ectothermic creatures who are more active at night due to their nocturnal behaviors. Since the mealworms are nocturnal organisms, we predicted that the mealworms would have an increased metabolic rate in the environment with no light opposed to the environment with light. We later found that our results did not support our hypothesis. The mealworms released more CO₂ in the environment with the light. We came to the conclusion that the mealworms released more carbon dioxide during the light trials because they were in an unfamiliar environment and they likely were undergoing a lot of stress when put into the light. All of these conditions caused the mealworms metabolic rate to increase.