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Review
. 2017 Jun 9;8(2):61.
doi: 10.3390/insects8020061.

The Biology and Control of the Greater Wax Moth, Galleria mellonella

Affiliations
Review

The Biology and Control of the Greater Wax Moth, Galleria mellonella

Charles A Kwadha et al. Insects. .

Abstract

The greater wax moth, Galleria mellonella Linnaeus, is a ubiquitous pest of the honeybee, Apis mellifera Linnaeus, and Apis cerana Fabricius. The greater wax moth larvae burrow into the edge of unsealed cells with pollen, bee brood, and honey through to the midrib of honeybee comb. Burrowing larvae leave behind masses of webs which causes galleriasis and later absconding of colonies. The damage caused by G. mellonella larvae is severe in tropical and sub-tropical regions, and is believed to be one of the contributing factors to the decline in both feral and wild honeybee populations. Previously, the pest was considered a nuisance in honeybee colonies, therefore, most studies have focused on the pest as a model for in vivo studies of toxicology and pathogenicity. It is currently widespread, especially in Africa, and the potential of transmitting honeybee viruses has raised legitimate concern, thus, there is need for more studies to find sustainable integrated management strategies. However, our knowledge of this pest is limited. This review provides an overview of the current knowledge on the biology, distribution, economic damage, and management options. In addition, we provide prospects that need consideration for better understanding and management of the pest.

Keywords: Galleria mellonella; honeybees; management; pests; semiochemicals.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Key diagnostic features for the greater wax moth. (a) Female pupa; (1) and (2), cloven sterna forming copulatrix’s aperture, (b) male pupa, (3) a pair of small rounded knobs representing the phallomeres, (c) wax moth female adult, (4) bifurcated proboscis, (5) labial palps projecting forward (beak-like appearance), (d) wax moth male adult, (6) curved and inwardly hooked labial palps (snub-nose appearance). Please refer to Ellis, et al. [19] and Smith [23] for more description on egg and larval stages.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Global distribution of the greater wax moth (GWM) as of December 2016 in beekeeping regions in Africa [9,37,39,40,41,42,43,44,45,46], Asia [20,22,38,47,48,49,50,51,52], Australia [58], Europe [59,60,61,62], North America [12,16,21,27,34,53,54], Latin America [55,56,57], and island countries [63,64,65,66]. Areas in black (present) depict confirmed presence of GWM; areas in grey (absent) indicate no confirmed presence due to lack of literature.

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