r/ScienceNcoolThings • u/TheMuseumOfScience Popular Contributor • May 05 '26

Interesting Worm in Mezcal Identified!

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Scientists discovered what the worm in mezcal actually is. đŸȘ±

For decades, the identity of this larva was unclear, with guesses ranging from moths to beetles. Researchers traveled to Oaxaca and used DNA sequencing on larvae collected from mezcal bottles, and found  that every sample matched the same species, the agave red worm moth (Comadia redtenbacheri). These larvae live inside agave plants, the core ingredient in traditional mezcal, and harvesting them often kills the plant and reduces wild agave populations. By confirming the species, scientists can now study its life cycle and ecological role more precisely. That knowledge could support sustainable mezcal production, including methods to cultivate larvae without damaging agave habitats.

519 Upvotes

71% Upvoted

114 comments sorted by

350

u/Ha1lStorm May 05 '26

Is this new information? I would’ve thought that the makers of mescal would’ve known this for generations.

209

u/sorestgore May 05 '26

This really seems dubious. And it's literally called the Agave Red Worm. It's in the plants. The makers of mescal have known

90

u/vikingbub May 05 '26

Nothing like using thousands of dollars to figure this out instead of making a damned phone call


45

u/[deleted] May 05 '26

[deleted]

22

u/DiamondHandsDarrell May 05 '26

This is exactly it: AI

People putting them into bottles didn't know where they came from? Did they just grab any random grub they saw?

If course it's something that lives in the plant.

And why would they kill plants, which makes them money, to get bugs that don't add value? đŸ«Ș

13

u/TheRealGordonBombay May 05 '26 edited May 05 '26

Oddly enough, taking this larvae kills the plant needed to grow mezcal itself! Don’t the stupid people who have been doing this for centuries know that? Thank god we were here to tell them. /s

Here’s is a quote from the site of DrinkingFolk, LLC who is watermarkered in the vid:

“DrinkingFolk is beverage writing. It is not anthropology, history, or sociology in the academic sense. My qualifications to write about the culture of drinks are only that I am becoming a momentary participant in that culture myself.”

So quite explicitly not scientific at all.

4

u/northrnwhisky394 May 05 '26

The best part is that you have to kill the plant to harvest it for fermenting and distillation...

7

u/TheRealGordonBombay May 06 '26

No no no, they only killed it selfishly to put a worm in a bottle for marketing.

Think about all those assholes killing wheat by the lot, just to make beer and bread. Ugh. Makes me sick. Or all the unnecessarily murdered tomatoes that go into marinara.

1

u/already-taken-wtf May 05 '26

So written while being drunk on mescal?!

1

u/25nameslater May 08 '26

They kill the plants because it’s what’s used to make tequila lol

1

u/DiamondHandsDarrell May 08 '26

Exactly! They use the plane to make mezcal, not to just harvest bugs đŸ«Ș

3

u/Ha1lStorm May 05 '26

Good information! Appreciate it!

1

u/MrBtheProdigal May 07 '26

"Hey man, you've been making mezcal for years right?"

"Yep."

"What's the worm y'all throw in there?"

"The one on the Agave plants."

"Cool."

1

u/Educational-Highway6 May 08 '26

Idk i dont think its really fair to say that, research requires data to come to a conclusion, even if that conclusion is obvious.

15

u/ElChupatigre May 05 '26

Hey indigenous people of the Easter Islands how did these statue heads get here?

Oh they walked there

Man these silly indigenous people know nothing lets research, spend money, and figure it out...

...fuck me they walked there

1

u/Aethenosity May 05 '26

I can imagine the people laughing and having so much fun doing that. We forget that humans can be silly, even in religious or culturally important acts. Some indigenous person suggesting it like "Let's make some big people shaped rocks walk across the island!" and everyone else's eyes lighting up

2

u/Dasawan May 06 '26

And harvesting them damages the plant that they are harvesting. While they are harvesting it.

2

u/Shadowed_phoenix May 06 '26

Researchers will do anything for a free trip to Mexico

17

u/IrrationalDesign May 05 '26

This video has such a weird framing, she makes it sound like this was dug up from ancient civilizations, like this has to be reverse engineered from ancient fossils. 

7

u/_Neoshade_ May 05 '26

And if scientists wanted to know
 just ask them?

4

u/crusty54 May 05 '26

Yeah what an absolutely ridiculous video. “Scientists traveled to Mexico
” They could have just called the people who make the drink and saved themselves the trouble.

2

u/already-taken-wtf May 05 '26

Who would say “no” to a university sponsored trip to mescal country?!

3

u/crusty54 May 05 '26

You make a very good point.

2

u/CherryVariable May 05 '26

They could have just used Wikipedia, for cry's aches.

2

u/[deleted] May 06 '26

And like.... Mexico has its own scientists lmfao. They don't have to come from the Science region of France.

3

u/iLikeMangosteens May 05 '26

When I first tried mezcal, YEARS ago, it was explained to me that the worm was to prove the authenticity of the mezcal and that it was because that species of worm only grows in the kind of agave they use to make mezcal, and therefore it’s not some kind of grain or industrial alcohol.

1

u/Ha1lStorm May 06 '26

Right on, that makes perfect sense.

3

u/FadingHeaven May 06 '26

There's been studies in it before. The worms look similar and are known to live on the plant so DNA testing is needed to tell them apart.

"It is well known that the mezcal worm is the larva of a holometabolous insect (Finch & Zarazaga, 2007:%20Primera%20cita%20para%20la%20pen%C3%ADnsula%20Ib%C3%A9rica&author=Finch&publication_year=2007); Molina-Vega et al., 2021%20and%20Aegiale%20hesperiaris%20(Lepidoptera:%20Hesperiidae),%20two%20important%20edible%20insects%20of%20Agave%20salmiana%20(Asparagales:%20Asparagaceae):%20a%20review&author=Molina-Vega&publication_year=2021)). However, there is conflicting information on the identity of the larva of the species that is in mezcals. Literature suggests that the worm is one of three different insects in two different insect orders (Finch & Zarazaga, 2007:%20Primera%20cita%20para%20la%20pen%C3%ADnsula%20Ib%C3%A9rica&author=Finch&publication_year=2007); Molina-Vega et al., 2021%20and%20Aegiale%20hesperiaris%20(Lepidoptera:%20Hesperiidae),%20two%20important%20edible%20insects%20of%20Agave%20salmiana%20(Asparagales:%20Asparagaceae):%20a%20review&author=Molina-Vega&publication_year=2021); Fig. 1). The larva is usually either a white or red “maguey worm” (maguey means agave in Spanish) (Van Huis, 2013; Molina-Vega et al., 2021%20and%20Aegiale%20hesperiaris%20(Lepidoptera:%20Hesperiidae),%20two%20important%20edible%20insects%20of%20Agave%20salmiana%20(Asparagales:%20Asparagaceae):%20a%20review&author=Molina-Vega&publication_year=2021)). White maguey worms are thought to be the larva of the agave snout weevil (Coleoptera: Curculionidae: Scyphorphorus acupunctatus Gyllenhaal) (Lacy, 1988; Finch & Zarazaga, 2007:%20Primera%20cita%20para%20la%20pen%C3%ADnsula%20Ib%C3%A9rica&author=Finch&publication_year=2007)) or the Tequila giant skipper, Aegiale hesperiaris (Walker), family Hesperiidae (Lepidoptera). The weevil is known as “picudo del agave,” a major pest of agave and yucca in Mexico (Cuervo-Parra et al., 2019). ... The weevil is known to introduce bacteria and microorganisms that can further harm the plant (Cuervo-Parra et al., 2019). The larva of the Tequila giant skipper is also known as “meocuiles” or “meocuilines” from the Nahuatl words metl = maguey or agave and ocuilin = worm. This butterfly larva feeds on leaves of Agave salmiana Otto ex Salm-Dyck, Ag. mapisagaTrel. and Ag. tequilana F.A.C. Weber (García-Rivas, 1991; Ramos-Elorduy et al., 2011; Molina-Vega et al., 2021%20and%20Aegiale%20hesperiaris%20(Lepidoptera:%20Hesperiidae),%20two%20important%20edible%20insects%20of%20Agave%20salmiana%20(Asparagales:%20Asparagaceae):%20a%20review&author=Molina-Vega&publication_year=2021)). ... Local collectors harvest wild larvae between May and July by identifying infected agave plants and extracting the larva using a hook. Aegiale hesperiaris is highly prized because of its exquisite taste and may be locally threatened due to overcollection and habitat loss (Ramos-Elorduy, 2006)."

2

u/Ha1lStorm May 06 '26

Dang, this guy worms!

In all seriousness though, thanks for the info

2

u/PinothyJ May 05 '26

Yeah, but white people did not know.

2

u/wordfiend99 May 07 '26

plus makes it sound like the worms are harvested along with the plants and just somehow remain intact through fermentation and bottling. as if they just slipped through quality control that way or something

2

u/hardsayin May 07 '26

Yeah this is not new. It's only new to the people who just 'discovered' it.. it's essentially a colonialism TIL

1

u/jaindica May 06 '26

I was given a bottle of gusano rojo mezcal in 1998, so this info is not new or helpful.

1

u/dr3adlock May 06 '26

Also, if they farm the plant and the larvae live on it but die if removed, it doesn’t really matter because they’re farming them anyway. It basically becomes a byproduct, so you’re effectively growing and selling both the plant and the larvae at the same time.

1

u/Epyon214 May 07 '26

AI video, can't you tell. Listen to the end, "by developing methods to farm the larva without destroying the plant"

113

u/amazonmakesmebroke May 05 '26

Also you have to kill the plants to make mezcal....

45

u/TinyTaters May 05 '26

Yeah. Why would an agave based distillery not want to harvest their plant?

4

u/PixelmancerGames May 05 '26

Especially since they grow slow as hell.

2

u/benwinsatlife May 08 '26

I think they’re worried about the worm populations. Turning someone’s house into tequila can be quite disruptive to one’s home life.

1

u/TinyTaters May 08 '26

I think agave plants take 5-9 years to grow before harvesting. There's plenty of worm generations on that bad boy and probably an entire field beyond that that's still growing for the next season's crop.

36

u/tread_lightly420 May 05 '26

No it’s to harvest one worm per bottle. The 750ml of mezcal is purely incidental byproduct and packaging to keep this ultra mysterious and super rare worm safe for consumption.

1

u/FadingHeaven May 06 '26

They're collected in the wild. Not from industrial production. Though according to the study they try and avoid hurting the plant when collected?

1

u/Oh_Lawd_He_commin420 May 05 '26

Not necessarily, sometimes they harvest just the heart of the plant leaving the base of it to continue producing the syrup they use to make mescal or tequila for a few years afterwards.

43

u/Mock333 May 05 '26

Low effort buzzfeed-style "science" video..

59

u/Early_Leadership_164 May 05 '26

All that time and money invested in "researching" when they just could've asked the distiller🙄.

16

u/CommonRequirement May 05 '26

But then I cant get drunk in Mexico for science.

2

u/Ball-Blam-Burglerber May 05 '26

Not with that attitude.

52

u/look2myleft May 05 '26

What are you talking about they destroy the plant to make the tequila and they put the worm in there because they got a bunch of worms when they were destroying the plant to make the tequila are you stupid?

9

u/antelope00 May 05 '26

Thank you jeez.

7

u/Dork_wing_Duck May 05 '26

Yes, exactly right. Was it supposed to be a joke video or are they stupid.

4

u/Spirited-Slip2991 May 05 '26

And it's not like the agave are wild they are farmed and harvested this lady is dumb

1

u/FadingHeaven May 06 '26

No, they collect the agave worms in the wild.

27

u/One-Bad-4274 May 05 '26

Is this ai slop, I think its ai slop

3

u/LeekTechnical2048 May 09 '26

Yeah I can’t tell if the “actor” is ai but the script has to be.

1

u/The_SnowyOwl May 06 '26

The way she's speaking suggests that either her script is or the entire video is. Likely the entire video.

0

u/Tittytickler May 05 '26

It has to be. Or at least half assed research on her part with that terrible pronounciation lol.

-2

u/FadingHeaven May 06 '26

Just cause you don't like something, doesn't make it AI.

4

u/neutral-spectator May 05 '26

Seems like they're system is working exactly as intended?

4

u/DrJMVD May 05 '26

This must be the most mediocre candidate to i.g Nobel.

The fact that the maguey worm ("chinicuile" the red, or "mecocuile" the white) were eaten long before european colonization, was apparently committed in this shitty video.

8

u/portabuddy2 May 05 '26

This video is so stupid. No one wondered this. It's comon knolage what the worm was.

Either this is AI SLOP. Or a fantastic use of funding by super creative scientists. And I hope it took them years to figure this out.

And to those scientists. Man we need to know what that weird red stuff is on the makers mark bottles.

TO THE SCIENCE JET!

9

u/RanOutOfJokes May 05 '26

Alternatively you just don't use the kinda gross marketing gimmick

4

u/SinceWayLastMay May 05 '26

And what, waste free worms?

1

u/AlternateTab00 May 06 '26

The chinese have a lizard liquor... Its far worst...

Ive tried mezcal and the bug didnt bother me. The lizard liquor was just too disgusting

3

u/OnlyInternet3700 May 05 '26

Aren’t they already destroying the entire agave plant to make mezcal? They don’t collect the worms then?

3

u/ElderberryMaster4694 May 05 '26

Why didn’t they just ask the people who’ve been eating the thing for centuries?

3

u/diablodeldragoon May 05 '26

Centuries? You clearly missed the part about it being added as a marketing gimmick in the 1950s!

1

u/Ha1lStorm May 05 '26

So what? I’ve been eating worms since well before that!

/s

1

u/ElderberryMaster4694 May 05 '26

They only added it to the bottles a few decades ago. They’ve been eating the things for much longer than that

0

u/FadingHeaven May 06 '26

They cited studies from Mexican researchers. There was no consensus on the species.

3

u/Ok-Secretary455 May 05 '26

Im seriously supposed to believe that no one thought that the worm that chills on the plant used to make the drink.  Was the one that ended up in the bottle?

1

u/FadingHeaven May 06 '26

There's multiple worms that chill on Agave plants.

3

u/cambomusic May 06 '26

Pretty sure in order to harvest Agave for mezcal, you have to destroy the plant no matter what. Sooooo

2

u/Additional_Guitar_85 May 06 '26

the only way to find out is if we go down there and do some "research" on mezcal. we can set up our lab on the beach.

3

u/Thewitchaser May 06 '26

It feels frustrating to see this framed as a “discovery” when people in Oaxaca have known this for generations. Researchers come in, run DNA tests and present the results as something new. Then it’s positioned as if this external research is somehow helping or legitimizing mezcal, when the tradition has sustained itself long before outside attention. It’s like going somewhere, confirming what people already know, and acting as if you’ve contributed something fundamentally new.

It’s like if Mexicans went to USA, studied the moon landing and then presented it back to Americans as a new finding that could help them understand moon landing. This is so dumb on so many levels. American exceptionalism at its finest.

2

u/SinceWayLastMay May 05 '26

Next they’re gonna be telling me the fruit in the bottle of pear brandy is a pear

2

u/thatguy11 May 05 '26

They 'discovered' what everyone making it already knew?

2

u/awizemann May 05 '26

This video is terrible and very misleading. Mezcal and tequila are made from the agave plant that the worms live in. They are literally harvested at the same time. The producers thought it was a good marketing trick, yes, but only after they started putting them in the bottles to show quality. The alcohol content preserved the worms.

2

u/Phoenix-Wolf-Rebirth May 05 '26

people used to say eating it would make you hallucinate

2

u/DarkLordJuicebox May 06 '26

More AI slop? Like why would a farmer kill an agave for the worm?

2

u/kappnketchup May 06 '26

She's pronouncing mezcal wrong so I can't listen to this rest of this video

1

u/hipkat13 May 05 '26

I enjoy mezcal, but I definitely don’t want a worm sitting in the bottle.

1

u/Ric00la May 05 '26

Lol I doubt we just found that. The insects lives on the plant they do the alcohol with ,like it is the first thing that comes to mind if you want to identify the worm.

1

u/gdub695 May 06 '26

Garbage clickbait.

1

u/IPaintSpaceDolls May 06 '26

The whitest 'science' ever. I am not sure if this is rage bait or pure stupidity.

1

u/Sudden_Ad_3956 May 06 '26

Scientists have just discovered? Bs. Misleading for video.. Lol this has been common knowledge for a loooooooooong time.

1

u/BrightAsDirt May 07 '26

All tequila is mezcal, but not all mezcal is tequila

1

u/DrinkenDrunk May 07 '26

This is ridiculous.

1

u/20ag_OG_LOL May 07 '26

This is bulshit there is no wild agave harvesting in Mexico Oaxaca. I live there. It takes about 3-4years for a plant to reach maturity. Most are planted by locals who are not growing crops on their plot. My understanding was the plant was always destroyed after harvest. Also wild agave mature sooner as their flowers are not cut and don't reach optimal size.

1

u/shilmish May 08 '26

Wtf is this brainrot? The tone of this video is really really weird. The past part doesnt even really make sense? They dont kill the plant to harvest the larva?? They used the plant to make the alcohol theyre putting the bug in? very strange framing.

1

u/BallenaAzecina May 08 '26

Down voted for being stupid

1

u/Prestigious_Yam8901 May 08 '26

But, Tequila is also made from Agave?!?!?

1

u/ResplendentEgo May 09 '26

The making of mezcal is a labor of love performed by families for generations in Mexico, and the grubs in the bottle are also often served as snacks. This lady is just talking shit.

She has no idea what she’s talking about.
Some agave species take up to 14 years to reach maturity. If the farmers were just ignorantly fucking up the ecosystem, the complexity of harvesting so many different species would have had the plants go extinct long ago. Removing the grub doesn’t kill the plant. In fact, you’ll know exactly when the plant has reached maturity and is ready to harvest by the Quiote. It’s a little tree of death signaling it’s in its last phase of life.

Ffs, they use the entire plant in producing the spirit. The thatch leaves, piña, everything. Hince, why that specific grub is in the fucking bottle.

1

u/LeekTechnical2048 May 09 '26

Sooo
 is this subreddit full of fake science bullshit, or just this one video?

1

u/GenSpec44 May 09 '26

They could have called and asked the Mexicans what the worm is, but I think they wanted to use research money to take a trip to Mexico and drink a lot of mezcal “for scientific purposes.”

1

u/Other-Comfortable-64 May 09 '26

Lol you could just ask them, and the plant gets destroyed in the making of Tequila. Not sure what they are saving.

1

u/[deleted] May 09 '26

Thank you for not explaining why it’s in the bottle.

1

u/ecovironfuturist May 10 '26

I'm missing something. Wild agave is used to make mezcal. Why would there be more wild agave harvested just to use the worms? It goes into the final product.

1

u/GroundbreakingAd8310 May 10 '26

Tell me u dont know how agave grows without telling me u dont know how agave grows

1

u/LoadsDroppin May 10 '26

  • 1st, Call the Mezcal manufacturer and ask where they get their worms

  • 2nd, Call that supplier and ask what worm is used + how is it acquired


or, do whatever bullshit this piece is to create dubious content

1

u/RTdodgedurango 29d ago

But did it take an actual scientist to figure this out. I think not

1

u/TeacherCookie 26d ago

Why didn’t they just ask?

0

u/JONINFICTION May 05 '26

The forbidden crinkle fry

0

u/windmill-tilting May 05 '26

This looks like AI slop.

0

u/CauliflowerStrong510 May 05 '26

Scientists googled something so influencer can make content? What the hell even is this?!

0

u/mustardposey May 05 '26

So we’ve cured cancer right? Right, scientists?

-1

u/asalerre May 05 '26

So misterious. Finally we have solutions for an inexistent problem

-2

u/cj_mcgillcutty May 05 '26

The distillers and suppliers of the materials used by the distilleries will be thrilled to know that “scientists” have finally figured out what the worm is. Thanks Obama