The effect of different pollens in artificial diet on some biological and physiological parameters of the greater wax moth, Galleria mellonella

The greater wax moth, Galleria mellonella is one of the most important pests of beehives in Iran and the world. Which leads to the death of weak honey bee colonies. Also, this insect is an important laboratory host for the isolation and mass production of the entomopathogenic fungi and nematodes. In this research, the effect of pollens of different plants including poppy, wild rapeseed, rapeseed and apple in artificial diet, were evaluated on some physiological and biological parameters of this insect. The highest amount of the last instar larval gut protein was recorded in the diet containing poppy pollen (20.22 mg/ml) and no significant difference was observed between the other treatments. The highest relative activity of digestive alpha-amylase and pectinase in the last instar larval gut was related to the diets containing poppy pollen (100 %), and the lowest relative enzymes activity was recorded in the diet containing rapeseed pollen (51.12 and 76.35 %, respectively). Larvae fed with the diet containing poppy pollen and the resulting pupae had a higher weight than the other diets (325 and 175 mg, respectively). The highest percentage of larval survival and pupation was related to the diets containing poppy (77.5 and 77.5 %), apple (62.5 and 70 %), rapeseed (52.5 and 47.5 %) and wild rapeseed (47.5 and 30 %) pollens, respectively. However, there was no significant difference in the percentage of adult emergence in different diets. Consequently, the diets containing rapeseed and wild rapeseed pollens compared to poppy and apple, are not suitable diets for rearing G. mellonella and it is better to use poppy pollen in the preparation of artificial diet for the mass rearing of this insect.