Researchers from POSTECH and Andong National University have discovered that the larvae of the darkling beetle can decompose polystyrene, a plastic that is difficult to decompose. The darkling beetle is indigenous to East Asia.

Darkling beetle larvae munching on styrofoam. Source: Hyung Joon Cha (POSTECH)

The darkling beetle larvae can consume polystyrene. The beetle's isolated gut flora oxidizes and changes the surface property of polystyrene film while reducing its mass and molecular weight.

The team isolated and identified Serratia from darkling beetle larvae’s intestinal tract. They fed this larvae polystyrene for two weeks. After this, the proportion of Serratia in gut flora increased 6 fold to 33 percent of overall gut flora. The gut flora of larvae is made up of a simple group of bacterial species, unlike gut flora of other polystyrene degrading insects.

The diet of the darkling beetle creates the possibility that polystyrene can be broken down by other insects that feed on rotten wood.

A paper on this research was published in Environmental Microbiology.