Big wax moth

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Big wax moth
Big wax moth

Big wax moth

Systematics
Class : Insects (Insecta)
Order : Butterflies (Lepidoptera)
Family : European borer (Pyralidae)
Subfamily : Wax moths (Galleriinae)
Genre : Galleria
Type : Big wax moth
Scientific name
Galleria mellonella
( Linnaeus , 1758)

The large wax moth ( Galleria mellonella ) is a small butterfly . It belongs to the subfamily of the wax moth (Galleriinae) and thus to the family of corn borer (Pyralidae).

features

The moths reach a wingspan of 20 to 40 millimeters, with the females of Galleria mellonella becoming larger than the males. The maxillary palps are small and elongated, the proboscis is poorly developed. The concave outer edge of the forewing is characteristic of the large wax moth, which is more pronounced in the males than in the females. The color of these forewings is predominantly ash gray with a brownish shade on the front edge of the forewings. The inner edge, on the other hand, is light yellow in color and has large, red-brown spots. The hemline of the forewings appears dark and the fringes on the wing appear red-gray. The hind wings of the males of Galleria mellonella are gray with a blackish-brown border, whereas the females of the large wax moth have yellowish white. The fore wing length is 10 to 15 millimeters.

The size and color of the moths can vary greatly, as they depend both on the composition of the larva’s diet and the individual development time.

Synonyms

As a widespread species, the great wax moth has also been described under a number of now invalid synonyms.

  • Phalaena mellonella , Linnaeus, 1758
  • Galleria cereana Linnaeus, 1767
  • Galleria austrinia fields, 1874
  • Galleria cerea Haworth, 1811
  • Vindana obliquella Walker , 1866

Way of life

Feeding tunnel of a single wax moth larva, which then pupated at the top left at the edge of the wooden frame.

The moths are inactive during the day and are often found under beehives. They mainly fly at dusk and at night, where they can be found on artificial light sources or on sugary baits. The female butterflies lay their eggs, which have an average size of 0.5 mm, in egg packets of up to 200 within beehives and the storage locations of the empty combs. A wax moth female lays up to 1000 eggs during her life. Depending on the temperature level and the humidity, 1 mm caterpillars hatch after 5 to 35 days. The young caterpillars feed on the garbage in the honeycomb. Later they live socially in a web and feed on the combs . They feed mainly on excrement residues from the bee brood, pollen residues and beeswax . After multiple moults, the climbing maggots grow to a size of 2–3 cm and damage the waxwork of honey bees, but also bumblebee colonies.

Pupation hollows of the large wax moth

The adult larvae pupate in a white, spindle-shaped cocoon in the honeycomb, but also very often outside. The caterpillars prefer inaccessible and protected areas of the wooden parts in the beehives before pupation. These are gnawed out by the caterpillars in a half-spindle shape.

After resting the pupa in a whitish cocoon, the new butterflies hatch for 45 days. At a temperature below 9 degrees Celsius, development comes to a standstill. Both eggs and larvae can withstand temperatures below freezing and the entire development time can be up to three months. Eggs that are laid in autumn hibernate until spring, as do caterpillars in the cocoon. As soon as the temperatures rise, they continue to develop.

distribution

The geographic distribution of the great wax moth is strongly linked to that of the honey bee ( Apis mellifera ). The nocturnal and darkness-loving butterfly probably comes from Europe and the neighboring Asian region. With the worldwide spread of the honey bee by humans, the large wax moth has meanwhile also spread worldwide.

Flight and caterpillar times

The moths fly in several generations from May to October. Vine maggots can occur all year round, although they take a break in development in the cold months (below 9 degrees Celsius). They spend this protected in a self-spun cocoon.

Hearing

As is common with other butterflies, sound is perceived via the tympanic organs . In the large wax moth, these are located as two cavities in the chest area , which are covered by thin membranes. The membranes act as the eardrum . If they start to vibrate, the sensors below are mechanically excited via cell bridges. A nerve impulse is created that is perceived as a noise. An oscillation of 0.1  nm is sufficient for this.

According to a research group led by Hannah Moir from the University of Strathclyde , Glasgow, Scotland, the wax moth can hear the highest tones of all animals - up to 300  kHz . That is twice as high as with the gypsy moth . It even clearly exceeds the range of ultrasound perception of bats , whose perception limit is 200 kHz.

So far, the researchers are still puzzling over the point of this adaptation. It could be a protection against the main predator , the bats. However, there is currently no species that uses frequencies greater than 212 kHz. This frequency is also far too high for sex stimulus calls. The females have the greatest sensitivity in the range from 90 to 95 kHz, in which the males also emit their calls. In addition to the possibility that there are bat species that use higher frequencies than previously known, one reason could be the faster response time, which is inversely proportional to the bandwidth. At 300 kHz this is 10  μs , while z. B. need 60 μs owl butterflies with their less pronounced hearing. Such a faster reaction can bring a decisive survival advantage in the perception of predators.

Harmful effect

Damage to the wax moth

The damage for the beekeeper consists on the one hand in the fact that wax is eaten and the storage honeycombs are destroyed, which are still to be used in the company. When the wax moths penetrate the colonies, the bees' brood can be killed by the web. As a rule, this occurs rarely and only in weak colonies. The damage to the storage honeycomb is more massive, and if it is heavily infested (see photo) it is unusable and must be destroyed. The southern US is losing 4-5% of its annual profit because of this one pest.

Use

In the wild, the wax moths ensure that the honeycomb structure of old, abandoned or dead bee nests is permanently destroyed and that there is space again for the bees to colonize.

Laboratory animal

Large wax moth, caterpillar stage

Galleria mellonella is held in some laboratories and research institutes to conduct research . The large wax moth is well suited as an experimental animal because the rearing conditions are favorable: The caterpillars are available all year round and the food is easy and inexpensive to get from beekeepers . In addition, the animals have a high rate of reproduction and a short development cycle. For some researchers, Galleria mellonella is virtually the “pet of the zoologists”.

In April 2017, the discovery of the Italian biologist Federica Bertocchini was published, according to which the caterpillars of the great wax moth can also feed on polyethylene and break it down into ethylene glycol . The aim now is to research which enzyme makes this possible and whether it can be used to develop a way of breaking down plastic waste . According to a publication from 2014, however, a moth ( dried fruit moth , Plodia interpunctella ) was known that can break down polyethylene. Two bacteria ( Enterobacter asburiae and an undetermined species of the genus Bacillus ) were identified that occur in the moth's stomach and leave micrometer-sized pits and holes on polyethylene film.

Food animal and fishing bait

The caterpillar of the Galleria mellonella is often used by anglers as live bait under the name "bee maggot" or "honey maggot" . Wax moth caterpillars are also very popular as live food in terraristics , as they can also be used by laypeople without any problems.

Enemies

Ichneumon wasp laying eggs on a wax moth cocoon

Can wax moths of parasitic wasps ( galleriae Apanteles , Apechthis ontario , Trichogramma evanescens and Habrobracon hebetor ) are affected. 1-2 eggs are laid on each larva by the adult Apanteles galleriae , only one of which succeeds in parasitizing the host and surviving. The larva of the parasite feeds on wax moths during their pupal rest and tears the host body apart when leaving to pupate itself. However, it is unlikely that this parasite will be able to invade a strong, healthy bee colony in large numbers because bees keep it away from the hive. In addition, it is difficult to navigate through the darkness in the colonies in order to find their host.

Habrobracon hebetor parasitizes the climbing maggots and lays their eggs on the outside of the larvae of various food moths (flour moths, dried fruit moths, storage moths, etc.). Several beneficial insects grow in a pest larva, preventing the wax moth from developing into a butterfly. To pupate, the beneficial insect larvae spin in a cocoon. The entire development cycle takes about two weeks at a constant temperature level of 25 degrees Celsius.

Trichogramma evanescens is very small and parasitizes the wax moth's eggs in which it lays its own eggs. Instead of a moth larva, a parasitic wasp hatches. This cycle is repeated as long as moth eggs are present. If the parasitic wasps do not find any more moth eggs, they die. The beneficial insects are only 0.3 to 0.4 mm in size and can hardly be seen with the naked eye.

Web links

Commons : Large wax moth  album with pictures, videos and audio files

supporting documents

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Large wax moth at schaedlingskunde.de, accessed on April 13, 2020.
  2. ^ Galleria mellonella (Linnaeus 1758). Fauna Europaea, Version 2.6.2, August 29, 2013, accessed April 25, 2017 .
  3. ↑ a b Thomas Kaltenbach, Peter Victor Küppers: Kleinschmetterlinge. Verlag J. Neudamm-Neudamm, Melsungen 1987, ISBN 3-7888-0510-2 .
  4. ↑ Gisela Droege: Das Beekeeper Book, Deutscher Landwirtschaftsverlag 1984
  5. ^ Hannah M. Moir et al .: Extremely high frequency sensitivity in a 'simple' ear. In: Biology Letters. Volume 9, No. 4, 2013, doi: 10.1098 / rsbl.2013.0241 .
  6. ↑ Ilka Lehnen-Beyel: Record for the moth's ear. From: Wissenschaft.de on May 8, 2013, accessed September 8, 2019.
  7. ↑ Paolo Bombelli, Christopher J. Howe and Federica Bertocchini: Polyethylene bio-degradation by caterpillars of the wax moth Galleria mellonella. In: Current Biology . Volume 27, No. 8, 2017, pp. R292 – R293, doi: 10.1016 / j.cub.2017.02.060 .
  8. ↑ Researcher accidentally discovers plastic-eating caterpillars. On: spiegel.de from April 24, 2017.
  9. ↑ Jun Yang, Yu Yang, Wei-Min Wu, Jiao Zhao, Lei Jiang: Evidence of Polyethylene Biodegradation by Bacterial Strains from the Guts of Plastic-Eating Waxworms. In: Environmental Science & Technology . Volume 48, 2014, pp. 13776-13784, doi: 10.1021 / es504038a .
  10. ↑ Natural enemies of Greater Wax Moth Galleria mellonella Linnaeus in Honey Bee Colonies PDF file.
  11. ↑ CA Kwadha, GO Ong'amo, PN Ndegwa, SK Raina, AT Fombong: The Biology and Control of the Greater Wax Moth, Galleria mellonella. In: Insects. Volume 8, number 2, June 2017, p., Doi : 10.3390 / insects8020061 , PMID 28598383 , PMC 5492075 (free full text) (review).
  12. ↑ a b Habrobracon hebetor at nuetzlinge.de, accessed on April 13, 2020.

literature

  • Hans Piepho : Investigations on the developmental physiology of the insect metamorphosis. About the doll skinning of the wax moth Galleria mellonella. Berlin 1942.
  • Alfred Kühn u. Hans Piepho: About hormonal effects in the pupation of butterflies. Göttingen 1936.
  • Andreas Vilcinskas : Biochemical and immunological studies on the humoral defense against fungal infections in insects using the example of the large wax moth Galleria mellonella (Lepidoptera). (Microfiche edition), 1994.