Abstract
This study was conducted to investigate the suitability of three suggested artificial diets prepared for mass rearing of the greater wax moth, Galleria mellonella L. to meet with the higher demand for mass multiplication of entomopathogenic nematodes as well as many parasitoids for insect biological control purposes. The suggested diets were compared to the natural food (i.e. honey bee wax) under laboratory conditions. The effect of such feeding on some biological aspects of eggs, larvae, pupae and adults of G. mellonella was studied. Summarized results revealed diet D3 (4 parts scratched bee wax and 1 part bee collected clover pollen) proved the best followed by natural (control) feeding. The superiority of diet D3 was represented by: shortened larval duration, induced significantly larval survival (88.33%) and weight (186 mg/mature larva) and pupal weight, minimized pupal mortality (6.7%), induced female moth fecundity (1056.6 eggs per female) and egg fertility and hatchability (97.81%).
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