Rearing of Galleria mellonella Under Controlled Environments: A Study on Diets, Temperature, and Management Strategies

Introduction H oney beekeeping is practiced in KhyberPakhtunkhwa on large scale.Two honey bee species are reared for honey production, the Asian honey bee A. cerana) and the exotic honey bees A. mellifera.Both have good potential for honey production and more 0.5 million people of Khyber Abstract | Honey beekeeping in Pakistan faces significant challenges from various insect pests, with the wax moth (Galleria mellonella) as a dangerous, causing substantial losses to the honey bee industry.These trials investigated the development of the G. mellonella under laboratory settings, examining the effects of different temperatures and diets, as well as evaluating control strategies targeting various larval instars.At 25 °C, development on old wax took 54 days, which was significantly shorter compared to other diets.At 30 °C, development time decreased, with the moth completing its life cycle in 40 days on old wax, 42 days on a mixture of old and new wax, and 50 days on new wax.At 35 °C, the development period further shortened to 28 days on old wax, 33 days on the wax combination, and 37 days on new wax.Cold treatment (T1 temperature 2°C) caused 100% mortality in 1st instar larvae within 24 hours, and this remained unchanged through day 7.In contrast, the control group (T4 25°C room temperature) showed minimal mortality, reaching only 10% by day 7.For 3rd instar larvae, cold treatment resulted in 20% mortality after one day.By 72 hours, neem (T2) and marigold (T3) treatments showed the highest mortality at 30%.After 7 days, all three treatments (cold, neem, and marigold) resulted in 50% mortality.Neem treatment (T2) caused 20% mortality in 5th instar larvae at both 24 and 48 hours, increasing to 70% by day 7. Cold (T1) and marigold (T3) treatments were less effective against 5th instar larvae, with mortality rates remaining at 20%.The ideal temperature ranges from 30-35°C and old wax are ideal for rearing on the larva.Cold treatment is good control for early stage larvae and neem is good in controlling the wax moth larvae.

Hali tarjima qilinmagan