Dibrachys cavus, a promising parasitoid in the biological control of the greater wax moth (Galleria mellonella)

Abstract

The chalcid wasp Dibrachys cavus (Walker) is a parasitoid of wax moths (Galleria mellonella). It would be interesting to find whether it could be used in the biological control of wax moths. For this purpose, we studied certain aspects of the biology of D. cavus attacking wax moths (Galleria mellonella) in vitro and its seasonal and relative abundance under field and laboratory conditions. The parasite attacks more the wax moth cocoons and less the mobile larvae, and it lays more eggs when it has more wax moth cocoons at its disposal. The survival rate of all the biological stages of D. cavus parasitized on Galleria was relatively high and ranged over 81.5%. The natural infestation of G. mellonella in months with high temperatures (June-August) was low (1.0–5.6%) and higher in the rest of the months (6.5–72%). The release of parasitoids for controlling infestation in the beekeeper’s warehouse is promising for the biological control of G. mellonella.