Someone please tell me what the heck these are

[TheHabit]

I've had these mealworms for maybe 2-3 weeks, kind of forgot about them when I got new mealworms. They weren't refridgerated and I just found them. It creeped me out because they look like little aliens. I figured they got really dehydrated and died, but they wiggled when I went to pick them up with the tweezers. Is this what mealworms look like when they are turning into beetles?

[Blu Mongoose]

Mealworms go into a pupae stage then into beetles if the are not refrigerated

[TheHabit]

so would these be in the pupae stage?

[Blu Mongoose]

Yes

[TheHabit]

Thanks I can scrape off the heebie-jeebies now

[wendy]

mealworm larvae, they look like little aliens!!!

[dsirkle]

You can buy a cheap box of no brand bran flakes and put them in a 15 qt tub. Put all those pupae in there and they will turn into beetles which will lay eggs. Put a hundred mealworms in there and in 2 months you will have a never ending free source of mealworms. Just add more bran every couple of months and add a carrot or potato slice for moisture every week. If you keep them in a basement it is just like keeping them in a refrigerator and nothing will happen. They need to be kept at room temperature to evolve.