Effect of dietary supplementation with antibiotic and probiotic on Biological Parameters of Yellow mealworm, Tenebrio molitor

Yellow mealworm, Tenebrio molitor, is a wealthy source of proteins and other nutrients. In this study, to improve the breeding of this edible insect, some of its biological parameters were evaluated by feeding on sixteen diets containing different levels of the antibiotic lincomycin (doses of 0, 0.005, 0.01 and 0.02%) and probiotics. Probiotic levels included: 1-probiotic-free (p0), 2- commercial probiotic (pA), 3- probiotic prepared from culture of Lactobacillus bacteria (pB), and 4- probiotic containing commercial yeast (pC). All three probiotics were used at a dose rate of 1% (108 CFU/gr). Treatments were applied to first instar larvae in bran and carrot-based diet. Based on the results, a significant increase was observed in the larval life span in the treatment of pC-dose of 0.01%, with an average of 67.75 ± 1.16 days, compared to the control (64.17 ± 1.04 days). The greatest mean larval weight, 144.17 ± 5.30 mg, was related to the pA-dose of 0.01%, which was significantly different only with pC-dose of 0.01% (117.50 ± 3.05 mg). The pupation percentage at zero dose (84.46 ± 1.77%) was significantly lower than the doses of 0.01 and 0.005% of antibiotics (8 and 9.32%, respectively). Traits of pupal life span, pupal weight, adult weight and adult emergence rate were not affected by diets. Based on the findings, the interaction of antibiotics and probiotics can affect some growth and developmental parameters of the yellow mealworm that can be considered in insect breeding programs.