Tenebrio molitor, Zophobas morio, Alphitobius diaperinus, Acheta domesticus and Blaptica dubia were evaluated for their potential as a future protein source. Crude protein content ranged from 19% to 22% (Dumas analysis). Essential amino acid levels in all insect species were comparable with soybean proteins, but lower than for casein. After aqueous extraction, next to a fat fraction, a supernat...

The haemolymph of larvae of Tenebrio molitor contains a factor which produces a thermal hysteresis (a difference between the freezing and melting points) of approximately 0-75 °C. When larvae were acclimated to low temperatures or short photoperiod the thermal hysteresis increased more than twofold. Coincident with the increase in thermal hysteresis the supercooling points and lower lethal temp...

The mealworm beetle, Tenebrio molitor, contains an unusually abundant and homogeneous satellite DNA which constitutes up to 60% of its genome. The satellite DNA is shown to be present in all of the chromosomes by in situ hybridization. 18 dimers of the repeat unit were cloned and sequenced. The consensus sequence is 142 nt long and lacks any internal repeat structure. Monomers of the sequence a...

Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) have been proposed as new class of antimicrobial drugs, following the increasing prevalence of bacteria resistant to antibiotics. Synthetic AMPs are functional analogues of highly evolutionarily conserved immune effectors in animals and plants, produced in response to microbial infection. Therefore, the proposed therapeutic use of AMPs bears the risk of 'arming the...

Organisms partition resources into life-history traits in order to maximise fitness over their expected lifespan. For the males of many species fitness is determined by qualitative and quantitative aspects of costly sexual signals: The notion that epigamic traits are costly forms the cornerstone of those theories that propose parasites drive sexual selection. Consequently studies examining this...

CERTAIN changes in the chief chemical constituents of tissues have been studied during the metamorphosis of Lucilia sericata Meigan, commonly known as the green-bottle or sheep blow-fly by Evans (3). Since histolysis and histogenesis are very well marked in this species, it was thought advisable to extend the study to a member of a lower order in which the changes are not so drastic. A suitable...

Injury inflicted by frost and freezing is found in all plants exposed to such damaging temperatures. Antifreeze proteins protect against these injurious temperatures by providing freeze resistance to organisms in which they occur. The expression of antifreeze proteins in a plant is a possible means of increasing the frost resistance and freeze tolerance of plants. Freeze tolerance curves of non...


 The study aimed to determine the effect of adding Tenebrio molitor growth quail (Coturnix-coturnix ja- ponica). research approach is quantitative. This type experimental with a completely randomized design (CRD) consisted 4 treatments and 5 repetitions. used were P0 (control), P1 (larvae eating vegetable waste), P2 fish P3 + waste). parameters in this stu- dy consumption, growth, egg wei...