DIETARY VARIATION ON BIOLOGY AND MORPHOMETRIC OBSERVATION OF THE GREATER WAX MOTH, GALLERIA MELLONELLA (L.)

Galleria mellonella (L.) is a destructive insect pest of honeybees. G. mellonella (L.) is widely used in research, microbiology assays, as pet food and host for biological control agents. Larvae of G. mellonella were collected from the main campus, BUAT, Banda, U. P. during 2024 and reared on natural and artificial diet under controlled conditions at 32 ± 2°C and 65 ± 2% R.H. There were 30 observations (3x10) for biological studies and 10 observations for morphometric observation. The mean incubation period was slightly shorter on the natural diet (7.30 days) compared to the artificial diet (7.40 days). Similarly, the total larval duration was reduced on the natural diet (31.55 days) as opposed to the artificial diet (42.89 days). Thus, the overall developmental period of the immature stages was also comparatively shorter on the natural diet (48.91 days) than on the artificial diet (63.45 days). Adult longevity of both sexes was higher on the natural diet (22.83 days) for males and (15.76 days) for females, compared to (16.00 and 12.37), respectively, on the artificial diet. The total life cycle of males and females was shorter on the natural diet (71.75 and 64.67 days) compared to the artificial diet (79.78 and 75.81 days). The survival rate of eggs, larvae and pupa were recorded higher on the natural diet (88.06, 91.67 and 92.91%) respectively compared to artificial diet (84.49, 89.39 and 88.42%). The morphometric observations of different stages of G. mellonella were also recorded on natural as well as artificial diet