Biology, behavior and ecofriendly management of greater wax moth, Galleria mellonella Linnaeus
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Date
2021-09
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G.B. Pant University of Agriculture and Technology, Pantnagar - 263145 (Uttarakhand)
Abstract
The present investigation on biology, behavior and eco-friendly management of Greater wax moth was conducted at Department of Entomology, GBPUA&T, Pantnagar, Uttarakhand during 2020-21. Biological study of wax moth revealed that natural diet is more suitable for rearing of wax moth as compared to artificial diet due to the shorter developmental period (57.05±0.60 days) and higher fecundity (902.65±148.74 eggs/female) of wax moth on natural diet. However, artificial diet can be used as a costeffective and easily accessible alternative to natural diet for laboratory rearing of wax moth. For studies regarding the management of wax moth, the behavioral bioassay of female wax moth using pheromone blends revealed that 7:3 (30% C11:AL) blend of aldehydes (nonanal and undecanal) elicited maximum behavioural response at 0 DAT which remained effective up to 1 DAT. The studies on effect of different colors of optical light on Greater wax moth revealed that adult moths were attracted towards the blue colored light (lower wavelength) and maximum attraction was observed at 36hrs of exposure to light. Bio-efficacy of Neem Care 0.15% EC and Dipel 3.5% ES showed 80.0% and 86.7% larval mortality respectively, at 48 HAT in dipping method @ 4.0 ml/L concentration. Thus, from the study it was concluded that pheromone blend of nonanal and undecanal in 7:3 ratio is able to elicit maximum behavioral response in female wax moths. The maximum attraction of wax moths was observed towards blue colored light. Hence, pheromone traps and light traps can be developed and incorporated as components of Integrated pest management of Greater wax moth in future. The biopesticides Dipel 3.5% ES and Neem Care 0.15% EC were able to cause significant larval mortality in wax moth at 4.0 ml/L, therefore both the formulations can used for eco-friendly management of wax moth.