Canthariasis is a human disease caused by infestation of beetle larvae. We report here an unusual cause of urogenital infection due to Tenebrio molitor in a 10-year-old boy suffering from severe and intermittent suprapubic pain from Nehbandan City, Northeastern Iran in 2018. After 9 months, three larvae were excreted. Keratinization of bladder wall was observed in histopathology. All laboratory evaluations were normal except for presence of microscopic hematuria. This report implicated that T. molitor could infest bladder accidentally and cause canthariasis and clinical symptoms that may lead to severe pain and bladder inflammation and hyperemia.

Purpose: In the industrialized production of mushrooms usually only one flush of fruitbody is harvested, so that nutrients and energy in the substrate is not fully exploited. In this study, the spentPleurotus eryngii substrate was recycled for the cultivation ofAgrocybe chaxingu under ambient temperature.Method: Six formulae were tested: (1) Control: 98% spent substrate, 1% sucrose, 1% lime; (2) Control? 10% wheat bran; (3) Control? 20% wheat bran; (4) Control? 10% T. molitorfeces; (5) Control? 20% T. molitor feces; (6) Control+ 10% wheat bran? 10% T. molitor feces.Results: Two flushes of fruitbody were harvested, the control substrate resulted in a biological efficiency of 40.42%; the formulae with supplementation of 10% wheat bran, 20% wheat bran and 10%T. molitor feces significantly increased biological efficiency to 52.50, 54.61 and 51.56%, respectively, and supplementation of 20%T.molitorfeces, or 10% wheat bran plus 10% feces further significantly increased biological efficiency to 62.95 and 61.10%, respectively. All supplemented substrates had significantly higher cellulose and laccase activity than the Control (cellulase 0.10 U/g; laccase 41.00 U/g), which were 10% wheat bran (0.15 U/g; 72.67 U/g), 10%T.molitorfeces (0.17 U/g; 98.33 U/g), 20% wheat bran (0.22 U/g; 76.00 U/g), 20%T. molitor feces (0.27 U/g; 87.00U/g), 10% wheat bran plus 10%T. molitor feces (0.25 U/g; 97.67 U/g), respectively.Conclusion: Spent Pleurotus eryngii substrate was promising for cultivation ofAgrocybe chaxingu, especially when supplemented with 20%T. molitor feces, or with 10%T. molitor feces plus 10% wheat bran.

This study was conducted to evaluate the effects of mealworm (Tenebrio molitor) dietary supplementation on egg production, egg traits, humoral immunity and ileal microbiota in Japanese quails. A hundred and twenty female Japanese quails (Coturnix coturnix japonica) were used in a completely randomized design with three treatments, five replicates, and eight birds in each replicate. Experimental diets included: basal diet (without any additives), basal diet + 0. 1% full-fat mealworm powder, basal diet + 0. 2% mealworm powder. The experiment lasted five weeks, and the quails had free access to the feed and water. The results showed that mealworm supplementation did not have any significant effect on feed conversion ratio of the quails during the whole period of the experiment. At the 5th week of the experiment, egg weight and egg mass of the quails fed with mealworm increased linearly, and the feed intake of the birds fed with 0. 1% mealworm was different quadratically. Different levels of mealworm powder supplementation increased egg albumen weight and yolk height linearly during the whole period of the experiment. Adding mealworm powder increased antibody titer against sheep red blood cell in laying quails on 89 and 96 d of age. It is concluded that mealworm supplementation at the level of 0. 1% improved egg weight, egg production, al-bumen weight, yolk height, and humoral immunity of Japanese laying quails, so it has the potential to be considered as an organic functional additive in quails' diet.

Background: Chitin and chitosan are utilized in many industries such as pharmacy, biotechnology, and medicine. The mealworm beetle, Tenebrio Molitor, is simply breaded and does not require a vast production space. Materials and Methods: In this study, we extracted chitin and chitosan using two different methods from Tenebrio Molitor adult beetles. Then we studied their physical and chemical properties along with their antibacterial effect. Results: Using two new methods we extracted 13, 3%, and 17. 7% chitin from the dry mealworm beetle which was higher than in previous studies. The chitosan yield of the extracted chitin was 78. 26% and 76. 43%, respectively. The observed FTIR peaks for chitin and chitosan in this study were in accordance with the characteristic peaks. The degree of acetylation of chitin was 95. 09% and 92. 55% and the degree of deacetylation was 75. 84%, and 72. 6% from the first and second methods, respectively. The extracted chitosan also showed an antibacterial effect against Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Conclusions: Our study demonstrated that chitin and chitosan extracted from adult mealworm beetles could be considered as a replacement for commercial chitosan and needs further studies.