“…Yellow mealworm, the larva of Tenebrio molitor Linnaeus 1758 (Coleoptera: Tenebrionidae) observed around the world and naturally present in forests with rotten wood, is one of the highly efficient plastic-degrading macroinvertebrates that voluntarily ingest a wide variety of petroleum-based plastic products, e.g., PS, low-density polyethylene (LDPE), polyurethane (PUR), PP, PVC, and PET. ,,− The unique metabolic process in the mealworm intestines endows them with great plastic-degrading capacities to depolymerize and biodegrade the ingested plastics through various gut-related mechanisms. After passing through the mealworm intestines, almost half of the ingested PS and LDPE can be efficiently biodegraded and mineralized within a short retention time of about 12 h, with residual polymers excreted in the frass. ,− ,,,,,,,− However, whether MPs or NPs are generated, retained, and accumulated as residues in the frass during the digestion of the plastics remains unknown. No detailed investigation has been conducted on the size distribution of residual micro- and nanosized particles in the previously published reports due to a lack of methods for characterizing, predicting, and unveiling the digestive formation of MPs and NPs during plastic biodegradation.…”