Modified semi-synthetic diet for mass rearing of wax moth Galleria mellonella L. Singh Jagpal#, Rani Seema, Rinni Riazuddin, Manish Foundation of Agricultural Resources Management and Environmental Remediation (FARMER), 179, B-Block, Shastri Nagar, Ghaziabad, 201002, Uttar Pradesh #Email: jps.farmer@gmail.com
Online published on 24 October, 2019. Abstract Asemi-synthetic diet with modified composition was used for mass rearing of wax moth Galleria mellonella L. (28±2ºC, 65±5%RH, 12: 12 scoto-photophase). The ingredients consisted of wheat flour (Triticum aestivum) (170g), maize flour (Zea mays) (170g), oat (Avena sativa) (160g), milk powder (170g), yeast powder (20g), honey (160ml), glycerin (150ml), streptomycin sulphate (0.5g) and two vitamin E capsules (Evion 400mg-2). This diet successfully supported growth and development of G. mellonella for three generations with enhanced larval weight. The biological parameters based on three continuous generations showed maximum larval weight of 5th instars, (44.1mg), pupal weight (24.0mg), pupation (74%), emergence (83%), survival (63%), fecundity (1252 eggs/female) and fertility (77%) with lesser developmental period (egg to adult) of 62 days. All the components of the diet are easily available and economical too as the cost of 1 kg diet was approximately Rs. 500 only, for rearing 1000 larvae successfully. Top Keywords Galleria mellonella, synthetic diet, mass rearing, entomopathogenic nematodes, larval weight, pupal weight, emergence, survival, fecundity, fertility. Top |