Abstract
The greater wax moth, Galleria mellonella Linnaeus (Lepidoptera: Pyralidae), is considered one of the most important pests effecting honeybee industry. The present study was carried out to evaluate the efficacy of the larval parasitoid, Bracon hebetor Say. (Hymenoptera: Braconidae), on G. mellonella in laboratory, honeybee colonies, and stored wax combs. In the laboratory studies, the pre-ovipositoinal, ovipositional, and post-ovipositional periods of the parasitoid were 0.27 ± 0.45, 20.87 ± 1.5, and 4.33 ± 0.48 days, respectively. The total number of eggs/female of the parasitoid on the 5th larval instar of G. mellonella reached 71.77 ± 7.84 eggs. B. hebetor females paralyze their hosts, the percentage of paralyzed 2nd larval instar of G. mellonella was 30% and parasitoid could not lay eggs on them, while the percentage of paralyzed 5th larval instar was 100% and parasitoid could lay eggs. In the field studies, the parasitoid, B. hebetor was released in honeybee colonies and stored wax combs to evaluate its efficacy. By releasing the parasitoid, the mean numbers of dead larvae of G. mellonella in treated honeybee colonies were greater than in the untreated, (91.8 ± 5.319 and 53.3 ± 24.373) larvae/colony, respectively. Also, releasing of B. hebetor against G. mellonella in stored wax combs reduced the number of survived G. mellonella larvae in treated storage wax combs to 3.2 ± 2.38 than in the untreated (using formic acid) 9.3 ± 5.52 larvae/store colonies. This is the first work to study efficacy of the parasitoid, B. hebetor on G. mellonella larvae in honeybee colonies and stored wax combs. The results suggested that the parasitoid had the efficacy to be used for controlling G. mellonella in beehives and stored wax comb in Egypt.
Highlights
The honeybee (Apis mellifera L.) is the most useful insect to human
The female longevity and total life cycle attained 25.4 ± 1.3 (23–27) days and 36.6 ± 1.5 (34–39) days. They were 15.57 ± 1.1 (15–18) days and 26.77 ± 0.86 (25–28) days, respectively. These results disagree with (Masood and Hsin 2006) who reported that the females longevity was shorter than males, 17.42 ± 1.37 and 19.4 ± 1.88 days, respectively, at 28 ± 0.5 °C with a photoperiod of 16:8 (L: D) and 65 ± 5% R.H. and there was insignificant difference in the total pre-adult duration between B. hebetor reared on E. kuehniella and G. mellonella
Farag et al (2015) results agree with the obtained results of this study, as they stated that the immature stages of the B. hebetor lasted 9.42 ± 0.2 days, when reared on G. mellonella and the longevity of female was longer than male, 19.11 ± 1.8 and 9.2 ± 66 days, respectively, at 28 ± 0.5 °C and 16:8 (L:D)
Summary
The honeybee (Apis mellifera L.) is the most useful insect to human. Honeybees are attacked by many diseases and pests which cause weakness of colonies and honey production (Shimanuki and Knox 2000). The greater wax moth, Galleria mellonella Linnaeus (Lepidoptera: Pyralidae), is considered one of the most important pests effecting honeybee industry. It is found in apiaries, honeybee colonies, and stores of beekeepers. New methods for early diagnosis of certain diseases and pests such as hyper-spectral application technology in the honeybee colonies have been reported (Yones et al 2019). Biological control integrated with other tactics can play an efficient role in pest management
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