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Plant Science Today (PST)

Research Articles

Vol. 12 No. 2 (2025)

Dietary variations and their comparison with natural diet on the biological parameters of greater wax moth

DOI
https://doi.org/10.14719/pst.5787
Submitted
14 October 2024
Published
22-03-2025 — Updated on 01-04-2025
Versions

Abstract

The research trial conducted at Lovely Professional University's Department of Entomology, School of Agriculture examined the efficacy of two distinct diets and one natural diet in the mass rearing of the greater wax moth. The influence of recommended meals on several biological features of the eggs, larvae, pupae and adults of greater wax moths was examined in a laboratory setting. The weight and size of the larvae and pupae were compared with the effects of feeding on natural foods, such as honeybee wax. The goal of the current study was to examine how this feeding strategy affected the biological characteristics of Galleria mellonella eggs, larvae, pupae and adults. The study concluded that the D2 diet-which included wheat flour, milk powder, yeast powder, honey, wheat bran and maize flour-was the most successful for the greater wax moths. It was discovered that this diet greatly shortened the larval length while improving the weight (27±0.7) and survival rate (90%) of the larvae, as well as raising adult emergence. The natural diet improved the fecundity of female moths, resulting in an average of 571.5 eggs laid per female and a shorter larval lifespan, among other benefits. The third-most effective diet was D1 feeding which contains 350 g wheat flour, 200 g maize flour, 130 g milk powder, 70 g yeast powder, 100 mL honey and 150 g sorbitol.

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