Mealworm
Tenebrio molitor Linnaeus, 1758
Status not recordedbeetles
The mealworm (Tenebrio molitor) is an insect in the beetle subgroup, belonging to the family Tenebrionidae in the order Coleoptera. Its scientific name was given by Linnaeus, 1758, and it is placed in the genus Tenebrio, tribe Tenebrionini and subfamily Tenebrioninae.
Quick facts about the mealworm
Other English names for it are Yellow mealworm, Mealworm beetle, Common mealworm, Yellow mealworm beetle and Common mealworm beetle.
- Weight
- Not recorded
- Length
- 1.25 cm – 1.8 cmsrc for Length
- Lifespan
- 0.5 years – 1 yearsrc for Lifespan
- Main food
- arthropodssrc for Main food
- Habitat
- Not recorded
- Egg incubation
- 4 days – 19 dayssrc for Egg incubation
- Young per litter or clutch
- Not recorded
- Reproduction
- Eggssrc for Reproduction
- Conservation status
- Not recorded
- Countries on record
- Not recorded
How big is the mealworm?
Photos of the mealworm
Only freely licensed photos are shown. Each carries its creator and licence.
1 more photo exists under a licence we cannot display: view at source.
Where does the mealworm live?
Not recorded
Where has it been introduced?
The Global Register of Introduced and Invasive Species lists the mealworm as introduced in 6 countries, and flagged as invasive in 1 of them.
Also listed for parts of: Canary Islands (La Palma); United States (Hawaii).
Introduced means brought by people and now present; invasive means the country's checklist records an impact. A species can be native to one part of a country and introduced in another. Source: Global Register of Introduced and Invasive Species (CC BY 4.0).
What is the mealworm?
Mealworms are the larval form of the yellow mealworm beetle, Tenebrio molitor, a species of darkling beetle.
The yellow mealworm beetle prefers a warmer climate and higher humidity. Male mealworm beetles release a sex pheromone to attract females to mate.
Tenebrio molitor has been used in biomedical research. Mealworms can be a dietary source for animals and humans. They are also considered pests, especially to food storage.
From the Wikipedia article “Mealworm” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Mealworm&oldid=1382458359), by Wikipedia contributors, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0). This block is kept separate from our own text.
Is the mealworm endangered?
No conservation assessment is recorded for this species in our sources. That is not the same as being safe: it has not been matched to an assessment.
How is the mealworm classified?
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumArthropoda
- classInsecta
- orderColeoptera
- familyTenebrionidae
- genusTenebrio
- SpeciesTenebrio molitor Linnaeus, 1758
Other names and names in other languages (53)
- Common mealwormEnglish
- Common mealworm beetleEnglish
- Giant common mealworm beetleEnglish
- Mealworm beetleEnglish
- Yellow mealwormEnglish
- Yellow mealwormEnglish
- Yellow mealwormEnglish
- Yellow mealworm beetleEnglish
- Yellow mealworm beetleEnglish
- خنفساء دود الطحين الشائعةArabic
- cocu la fariñaAsturian
- ManganellaCatalan
- potemník moučnýCzech
- MelormDanish
- Almindelig melskrubbeDanish
- Brun skyggebilleDanish
- MelbilleDanish
- MelskrubbeDanish
- MehlwurmGerman
- MehlkäferGerman
- Harilik jahumardikasEstonian
- jauhopukkiFinnish
- ténébrion meunierFrench
- Ténébrion à neuf stries lissesFrench
- lisztbogárHungarian
- Közönséges lisztbogárHungarian
- ԱլերորդArmenian
- MjölbjallaIcelandic
- チャイロコメノゴミムシダマシJapanese
- 갈색거저리Korean
- Didysis MilčiusLithuanian
- Miltu melnulisLatvian
- stor melbilleNorwegian Bokmål
- meeltorDutch
- Gewone meeltorDutch
- meelwormDutch
- MeelwormkeverDutch
- Mącznik młynarekPolish
- Bicho-da-farinhaPortuguese
- Большой мучной хрущакRussian
- Мучной хрущак большой / Мучной жукRussian
- múčiar obyčajnýSlovak
- mjölmaskSwedish
- mjölbaggeSwedish
- stor mjölbaggeSwedish
- vanlig mjölbaggeSwedish
- Un KurduTurkish
- Хрущак борошнянийUkrainian
- 麵包蟲Chinese
- 黃粉蟲Chinese
- 黄拟步甲Chinese
- 黄粉甲Chinese
- 黄粉虫Chinese
Catalogue of LifeWikipediaiNaturalistITISNCBI TaxonomyTAXREFWikidataWoRMS
Relatives of the mealworm
Other species in the same genus Tenebrio.
CompareMealworm vs Dark mealwormMealworm vs Tenebrio affinisMealworm vs Tenebrio angulatusMealworm vs Tenebrio arundinaceus
Common questions
Each answer is written from the sourced facts on this page, and only where they hold the answer.
What kind of animal is a mealworm?
The mealworm is an insect in the beetle subgroup, classified in the order Coleoptera.
What is the scientific name of the mealworm?
The scientific name of the mealworm is Tenebrio molitor.
Who named Tenebrio molitor and when?
Tenebrio molitor was named by Linnaeus, 1758.
What family does the mealworm belong to?
The mealworm belongs to the family Tenebrionidae, within the superfamily Tenebrionoidea and subfamily Tenebrioninae.
What are other names for the mealworm?
Other English names are Yellow mealworm, Mealworm beetle, Common mealworm, Yellow mealworm beetle and Common mealworm beetle.
How is the mealworm classified?
The mealworm is in kingdom Animalia, phylum Arthropoda, class Insecta, order Coleoptera, suborder Polyphaga, family Tenebrionidae, tribe Tenebrionini and genus Tenebrio.
Is the mealworm an invasive species?
In some places. The Global Register of Introduced and Invasive Species flags the mealworm as invasive in 1 country: Latvia. It lists it as introduced in 6 in all.
Sources and how to cite this page
Data as of 2026-11-13. How this page is put together.
- Catalogue of Life eXtended Release · CC BY 4.0 · 2026-10-16 XR
Catalogue of Life (2026). Catalogue of Life eXtended Release, version 2026-10-16 XR. Catalogue of Life Foundation, Amsterdam, Netherlands. https://doi.org/10.48580/dgzlf - Wikimedia Commons · per file (CC0 / public domain / CC BY green, CC BY-SA amber, anything else not displayed) · 2026-11-11
Wikimedia Commons contributors. Wikimedia Commons. https://commons.wikimedia.org (each file credited to its author under its own licence). - Global Register of Introduced and Invasive Species (GRIIS) · CC BY 4.0 · 2026-11-13
Pagad, S., Genovesi, P., Carnevali, L., Schigel, D. & McGeoch, M.A. (2018) Introducing the Global Register of Introduced and Invasive Species. Scientific Data 5: 170202. https://doi.org/10.1038/sdata.2017.202. Country checklists published through GBIF by the IUCN SSC Invasive Species Specialist Group. - Wikidata · CC0 1.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikidata contributors. Wikidata. https://www.wikidata.org (data retrieved via the Wikidata Query Service). - Wikipedia (English) · CC BY-SA 4.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikipedia contributors. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. https://en.wikipedia.org (text under CC BY-SA 4.0; each block names its article and revision).
Embed a card for this animal on your own site
Copy this code. The card shows the photo with its credit, key facts and a link back to this page.
CreatureData. (2026). Mealworm (Tenebrio molitor). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/mealworm
“Mealworm (Tenebrio molitor).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/mealworm.
@misc{mealworm_2026,
title = {Mealworm (Tenebrio molitor)},
author = {{CreatureData}},
year = {2026},
url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/mealworm},
note = {Data as of 2026-11-13}
}