Abstract :
The current study revealed the effect of some honey bee products viz., pollen, honey, propolis and bee wax and some plant oils on the greater wax moth, Galleria mellonella L. (Lepidoptera: Pyralidae). Results show that the females produced from the larvae which had fed on bee wax mixed with propolis gave the highest mean of egg, larval, pre-pupal, pupal and development periods which were 7.4 ± 0.40, 34.2 ± 0.66, 6.8 ± 0.86, 13.2 ± 0.66 and 61.1 ± 1.21 days, respectively. The longest mean of pre-oviposition was 3.2 ± 0.37 days, and the shortest means of oviposition and post-oviposition period was 4.4 ± 0.51and 1.0 ± 0.0 days, respectively. The shortest means of male and female longevity were 9.8 ± 0.49 and 8.4 ± 0.75 days, respectively. While the lowest means of the weight of each larva and pupa were 105.2 ± 5.47 and 71.0 ± 2.43 mg, respectively. Also, results show the effect of clove, garlic and rosemary oils on larval mortality of G. mellonella. The highest mean percentage of larval mortality was for clove oil (68.33 ± 3.33%), followed by garlic oil, 51.66 ± 1.66. The lowest mean percentage of larval mortality was for rosemary oil (38.66 ± 4.41%) at a concentration of 3% after 7 days of treatment, respectively.
Keyword :
Galleria mellonella, Biology, Pollen, Propolis, Wax comb, Plant oils.