Friends, beekeeping season is just around the corner! In some regions of our vast Motherland, bees have already made their first flight. But, unfortunately, on larger territory The weather of the Russian state is in no hurry to pamper us. It's time to remember about the problems that cause us a lot of problems in order to take action in a timely manner and without delay.
In this publication we will talk about the big wax moth or, as it is also called, o bee moth(Galleria mellonella).
Wax moth is the pest of pests! There is no beekeeper for whom wax moths would not cause trouble at least once during the period of beekeeping. What kind of “beast” is this?
Wax moths can be large or small. Consider the large wax moth.
This moth, whose caterpillars feed on wax and other goodies from a bee's nest. It is distributed almost everywhere. Where there are bees, there are wax moths. With the possible exception of the highlands, where the climate is quite harsh.
Butterfly size, adult(imago), about two centimeters. The wingspan is up to 3.5 cm. It has two pairs of wings. The fore wings are ashen in color, yellowish-brown towards the rear edge, and the hind wings are gray with dark lines along the rear edge. The oral apparatus is underdeveloped. The eyes are compound (consist of many small eyes). There are antennae on the head, which consist of 60 segments.
The male and female have different sizes. The female is larger. The male wax moth measures about 15-16 millimeters in length. The male's wings have a deep notch at the rear edge with a black fringe. The head is round, and in females it is elongated. Main hallmark However, I think the difference is in size.
Mating occurs literally a couple of hours after the butterflies emerge from the cocoons. And after two to three days the female begins laying eggs. During the day, the female bee moth lays up to a hundred eggs in various parts of the bee nest: all kinds of cracks, depressions, honeycomb cells, in uneven frames, in the folds of canvas and insulating pillows. Wax moths live up to 26 days and can lay up to 2,000 eggs in their lifetime.
The eggs that the female lays are oval in shape and White color. At a temperature of 30-35 degrees, development lasts from eight to ten days, and at lower temperatures it takes longer. Larvae develop from eggs.
The larva (caterpillar) has eight pairs of limbs. There are three pairs of thoracic limbs with a jointed structure. There are four pairs of abdominal ones and they look like warts. The rear pair is called “pushers”, at the ends of which there are peculiar hooks. During its stay in caterpillar form, the wax moth molts ten times. 
Already at the age of one day, moth larvae can actively move and are able to move from one bee colony to another. They walk up to 50 meters a day!
The full development cycle of the large wax moth takes about two months, and when the temperature drops environment development is delayed for a longer period.
At an air temperature of 8 degrees, the development of the larvae stops. She falls into suspended animation. The caterpillar can remain in this state without harm for up to several months. After the temperature rises above 8 degrees, the larva returns to its previous life and continues its development cycle.
After emerging from the egg, the bee moth larva immediately strives to get into the honeycomb. There she makes exits for herself in both directions, which she covers with cobwebs. Continuing to make a tunnel in the honeycomb, she tightens all the holes that combine her movement with external environment. This is a kind of protection - in such a tunnel the caterpillar is inaccessible to bees. Over time, the stroke becomes thicker, longer, and the yarn from the web becomes stronger.
From time to time the larva exposes the back of its body and defecates. The excrement of wax moth larvae is spherical or oblong in shape and almost black in color.
Honeycomb affected by wax moth
After some time, the larva stops feeding and moves to a secluded place. Such a place could be a crack, a seam in the hive, all sorts of irregularities and depressions. Next, she spins herself a dense cocoon and pupates. Often, caterpillars first gnaw out a place for a cocoon. Cocoons are often located close to each other. The development of the pupa lasts about two weeks.
The bee moth produces two to four generations of offspring. The full development of the caterpillar requires about 0.4 grams of wax. This is quite decent, considering the massive presence of wax moths in apiaries. One larva can destroy up to five hundred cells in a bee comb.
In one of the following articles we will look in detail at measures to combat wax moths in our apiaries.
Traditionally, on Saturdays, we publish for you the answers to the quiz in the “Question - Answer” format. We have a variety of questions, both simple and quite complex. The quiz is very interesting and quite popular, we are simply helping you test your knowledge and make sure that you have chosen correct option answer, out of four proposed. And we have another question in the quiz - What can large wax moth caterpillars do?
- Generate electricity
- Count to three
- Turn graphite into diamond
- Decompose polyethylene
Correct answer D. Decompose polyethylene
Scientists have found a caterpillar that recycles polyethylene. How she does it, no one knows.
An article in the scientific journal Current Biology found that wax moth caterpillars can apparently digest polyethylene. And not just chew it and remove it from the body naturally, but process it into other substances. Scientists had known similar organisms before, but they all process polyethylene very slowly. And a hundred wax moth caterpillars can cope with 92 milligrams of polyethylene in 12 hours.
Polyethylene is one of the most common types of plastic and is mainly used for packaging. Around a trillion plastic bags are used around the world every year and their disposal poses a serious problem. Thus, in the countries of the European Union, only a quarter of plastic bags are recycled, 36 percent are burned, and people simply throw away the remaining bags, thereby causing damage to the environment.
The large moth is an enemy of bees, but it can be beneficial to humans. During the beekeeping season, it's time to remember about the enemies of bees that cause serious problems in order to take action in time. The large wax moth, the harm and benefits of the butterfly's offspring will be written below.
The greater wax moth is a species dangerous insects that infect honeycombs. In Latin the insect is called Galleria melonella. The moth, like most gray representatives, becomes active at night. Pest larvae eat wax, this is the main type of food they feed on. In addition to wax, larvae can feed on foods such as:
- Pollen.
- Royal jelly.
- Chitin is the death of bees.
Some beekeepers claim that large moths can also eat propolis. Others report that the caterpillar eats exclusively wax and propolis that accidentally gets there.
This insect is a subspecies of the wax moth. It has the appearance of a moth 2 cm long, and if you take into account the wingspan, the size reaches 3-3.5 cm. The male is smaller than the female. It is approximately 1.6 cm long. The wings in front are smoky-gray, yellowish-brown along the edge, and the back pair of wings is pale grayish with dark patches. Large eyes and antennae can be seen on the head of the moth. The male has a round head. Along the rear edge of the front wings there is a deepened pit with a lush black fringe.
When the male is not moving, his wings are folded. If you press on the abdomen from behind, the copulatory organ will protrude. Males lure females with the specific scent they emit.
The female has an elongated head on which the proboscis is located. The body of females includes 10 segments; if you press on it, an elongated ovipositor will appear. The color and size of the moth may vary. It depends on the quality of the honeycomb that the caterpillar ate when it developed in the hive. Mouth and digestive system in pests they are poorly developed. The adult does not eat, but lives off the elements that it absorbed when it was a caterpillar, before pupation.
How does an insect reproduce and what is its danger?
Butterflies leave the cocoon in the morning, from about 6:00 to 11:00, but can also come out in the evening - around 17:00. Moths leave the entrance hole and attach themselves to horizontal surface on the hive.
If the butterfly has not left the bees' house in the morning, it sits there until it gets dark. After 3-4 hours, individuals begin to mate. A couple of days after mating, the female insect begins laying eggs. The masonry is located in cracks, walls, ceiling surface, frames and honeycombs themselves.
The butterfly lays up to 100 eggs in one place, then the same number in another place. During the 26 days of its existence, the moth lays approximately 2000 eggs. The eggs are white, round or slightly oval in shape, their size is from 0.5 to 0.35 mm.
The caterpillar develops up to 8 days. When it leaves the egg, it is about a millimeter in size. The body in front is thicker than in the back, the head is light yellow in color, slightly flattened. The caterpillar has 8 legs and 2 setae at the back of the body. They are the ones who cause harm. For the first 20 minutes the caterpillar moves weakly. She slowly moves towards the lower part of the hive. After a quarter of an hour, the larva becomes more mobile, eats honey from the open holes, and sometimes can eat pollen. Then the caterpillar begins to eat the wax.
What you eat is digested thanks to a special enzyme and intestinal microflora. After the larvae wax moth eat wax, they may continue to eat the feces of previous generations. 1 pest larva eats approximately 0.4 kg of wax during its life.
On the 2nd day, the caterpillars begin to build passages, often along the edges of the honeycombs near the uncovered holes with beebread. After 8 days, the caterpillars reach the mediastinum. The pest covers its passage, which resembles a tunnel, with a cobweb, so the bees cannot reach the larvae. Over time, the tunnel grows in diameter, and the web becomes stronger.
In some places in the tunnel, the caterpillars make holes and defecate through them. The larvae's feces look like gunpowder, and the butterflies' feces are in the form of round balls. Caterpillars prefer dark honeycombs that include a large number of remnants of cocoons than those built not so long ago.
An elderly caterpillar of a white-gray color, with a brown head. The body is approximately 1.8 cm long and consists of 13 parts. The body is wide in the middle and becomes narrower towards the front and rear parts. The middle-aged caterpillar stops eating, hides in a place sheltered from bees, for example, in a corner, crack or seam, begins to spin a cocoon and pupates.
Usually the pupae are arranged close to each other. Initially they are white, but become darker over time. After 4 days they become lightish brown and darken before emerging from the pupa. Pupa length female the bee moth is 1.6 cm, and the male is 1.4 cm.
Over the course of 12 months, the butterfly produces 3 generations. Develops at a temperature of +32°C. The entire development period is 47 days, and in the hive - 63 days. If the temperature is +20°C and below, the moth caterpillars grow more slowly, and at +10°C development stops. At low temperature conditions the butterfly and caterpillars die.
Fire does not only cause harm, it can also be useful. Butterflies are bred and used for various purposes:
- For research in zoology.
- As a test object for the study of bacterial substances.
- For breeding entomophages, which are needed in the countryside to protect plant crops.
But, most often, a large moth, or rather its caterpillars, is used as a raw material for obtaining a bioactive substance. It should be noted that moth caterpillars are the only insects that eat beeswax.
Caterpillars have been used since ancient times in alternative medicine to create various medicines. For these purposes, the caterpillar was used in ancient countries, for example, in Egypt and Greece. But until the 19th century. Only doctors were involved in treatment. At the end of the 19th century. The famous scientist I.I. Mechnikov studied the moth caterpillar well and proposed the use of medicines based on the moth's offspring in medicinal purposes, in the treatment of tuberculosis.
I.I. Mechnikov proposed destroying the waxy shell of Koch's bacillus with the enzymes of wax butterfly caterpillars that eat beeswax. While studying caterpillars and moths, the biologist realized that products made from middle-aged larvae that are ready to pupate have no effect on Koch's bacillus. For medical use, only young larvae up to 1.5 cm in size can be used.
Thanks to I.I. For Mechnikov, the butterfly became the stimulus for subsequent research. S.A. Mukhin initiated subsequent research on the large moth. The life of a homeopathic cardiologist was dramatic. He grew up in a family where all relatives were sick with tuberculosis, from which his mother and 2 newborn children died. Mukhin himself did not escape tuberculosis, but thanks to the healers who knew the secret of propolis and bee moth, he was cured.
With his works Mukhin S.A. confirmed therapeutic effect products based on large moth. The doctor opened it medical effect for pathologies of the heart and blood vessels. It has proven the ability to eliminate scars using this method after a person has had a myocardial infarction. Professor S.I. Metalnikov proved the incredible resistance of large moth caterpillars to the pathogens of plague and diphtheria.
Pest control methods
You have to fight the moth in the apiary and warehouses where honeycombs and wax products are stored. In the apiary, it is necessary to periodically inspect colonies affected by the moth. The caterpillars must be caught and destroyed.
The bottom of the hives and the top bars of the frames should be cleaned. Bees must be kept on a compressed nest. All these measures in practice provide excellent results. To expel the larvae from the honeycombs, you need to remove the frames and lightly tap them. It will be beneficial to open the fireworm's passages with a sharp knife. Thanks to this, the bees will clean the tunnels and rebuild the damaged honeycombs in a new way.
Heavily damaged honeycombs must be removed from the hive and the nests removed from them. Families that have been examined must be provided with food supplies and insulation.
If moths are found in warehouses where honeycombs and wax raw materials are stored, immediate action must be taken. Severely damaged honeycombs, unsuitable for further application, and all wax raw materials must be melted.
Unaffected or slightly damaged honeycombs that can be used in the future must be treated with a special agent. Disinsection is carried out in the same way as during preventive measures. They help in the fight against large moths and their larvae. low temperatures. If you hold the honeycombs at -10°C for half an hour, the butterflies and larvae will die.
If moth larvae are found, they must be removed. mechanically. As a result of multiple impacts on the frame, the tracks will fall out of the honeycomb. They must be collected and burned.
From chemicals Ascomolin can be used. It must be placed on the frame. As already noted, honeycombs can be frozen. However, this is an extreme measure, since after the cold the bee bread will lose its properties. Specialists process honeycombs:
- various gases;
- Timol;
- Anti-moth.
You can burn sulfur, then the larvae will beg for mercy, and as a result they will die. Females are caught using PAK-100 (synthetic male enzyme). In addition to treatment, prevention must be carried out. It is necessary to develop strong families that can protect themselves from attacks by large moths.
Warehouses for storing honeycombs and rejects should be ventilated and systematically cleaned. Must practice closed storage cellular In the apiary, it is necessary to regularly inspect the colonies affected by the pest, catch and destroy the larvae, clean the bottom and top of the frames, and keep the bees in a compressed nest.
Medicinal tincture
A tincture made from wax moth caterpillars has excellent medicinal properties. Caterpillar extract is an antiviral and antibacterial agent that has widest spectrum impact. The extract includes bioactive elements provided by bees, substances that stimulate cell growth, essential macro- and microelements for the body, and a lot of Zn and Mg.
The extract is very effective and slightly toxic, is perfectly stored and does not give negative effects. side effects, unlike many chemical and pharmacological drugs.
Caterpillars eat polyethylene April 26th, 2017
Scientists have found a caterpillar that recycles polyethylene. How she does it, no one knows.
The scientific journal Current Biology reported that wax moth caterpillars can apparently digest polyethylene. And not just chew it and remove it from the body naturally, but process it into other substances. Scientists had known similar organisms before, but they all process polyethylene very slowly. And a hundred wax moth caterpillars can cope with 92 milligrams of polyethylene in 12 hours.
Polyethylene is one of the most common types of plastic and is mainly used for packaging. Around a trillion plastic bags are used around the world every year and their disposal poses a serious problem. Thus, in the countries of the European Union, only a quarter of plastic bags are recycled, 36 percent are burned, and people simply throw away the remaining bags, thereby causing damage to the environment.
Wax moth larva (Galleria mellonella)
It was previously believed that polyethylene was not biodegradable because it did not occur in nature. Nevertheless, scientists have more than once found organisms capable of processing it. Thus, it turned out that the mold fungi Penicillium simplicissimum are able to partially utilize pre-treated polyethylene within three months. nitric acid. Later, reports emerged that the bacteria Nocardia asteroides “eats” plastic in four to seven months, and bacteria living in the intestines of the Indian moth (Plodia interpunctella) can decompose 100 milligrams of polyethylene in eight weeks. The authors of a new study found that the larvae of the wax moth Galleria mellonella can utilize polyethylene even faster, within a few hours.
During the experiment, after the larvae were left alone with a plastic bag, the first holes began to appear in it after 40 minutes. In 12 hours, 100 larvae ate about 100 milligrams of plastic. To understand how the worms digested the plastic, scientists crushed several larvae in a mortar and spread the resulting paste plastic film and left her for several hours. The researchers analyzed the “treated” polyethylene using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. In the spectrogram, in addition to the peaks characteristic of polyethylene, a peak corresponding to ethylene glycol appeared.
In subsequent experiments, scientists found that the caterpillars are capable of completely recycling polyethylene. This is due to the presence of a special enzyme in their bodies, which is either produced by the caterpillars themselves or by bacteria in their digestive system.
Experts believe that caterpillars developed the ability to process polyethylene by analogy with the mechanisms for processing wax in beehives. Now they hope to finally isolate the substance that produces the desired effect, and then try to synthesize it artificially.
"This discovery could help get rid of huge amount garbage that accumulates in landfills and in the ocean,” one of the study’s authors, Professor at the University of Cambridge Paolo Bombelli, told France-Presse. Polyethylene poses a serious problem for the environment, as it decomposes very slowly in natural conditions.
But has no one thought about what these multiplied caterpillars will eat when they gobble up all the garbage? They will start eating the polyethylene we need as Colorado potato beetles potatoes?
sources
A butterfly called the great wax moth (Galleria mellonella) is notorious among beekeepers: its caterpillars live in beehives, feed on honey, beebread and wax, literally eating honeycombs and at the same time damaging the bee brood.
But the wax moth also has extremely useful property: Researchers from Cambridge and the Cantabrian Institute of Biomedicine and Biotechnology have discovered that G. mellonella caterpillars eat plastic bags. This turned out to be an accident: Federica Bertocchini, one of the co-authors of the article in Current Biology, cleaned her hives of moth caterpillars by putting them in a plastic bag - and after some time the whole bag was literally riddled with holes. Nobody but the caterpillars could make them.
Then they were specially placed on polyethylene material to understand how hard they destroy it. The result exceeded all expectations: one hundred large wax moth caterpillars destroyed 92 mg of polyethylene in 12 hours. According to the authors of the work, insects work in this sense even more effectively than special bacteria capable of destroying plastics.
By breaking down polyethylene, G. mellonella caterpillars convert it into ethylene glycol, a colorless and odorless substance that tastes sweet and is poisonous; however, the caterpillars apparently did not suffer from it in any way. It is curious that the polyethylene was destroyed not only by the caterpillars: the pupa, which simply lay on the polyethylene, soon made a hole in it; apparently, the digestive enzyme simply came out through its integument. An experiment with pupae, by the way, showed that insects actually break down polyethylene, and do not just gnaw holes in it. The chemical structure of polyethylene is similar to the chemical structure of beeswax, so one would probably expect that wax moth larvae feeding on wax in hives would be able to overcome this artificial polymer.
Now the challenge for researchers is to understand what enzyme - or set of enzymes - allows G. mellonella caterpillars and pupae to break down polyethylene, and what exactly happens there, chemically speaking. It is possible that insects themselves synthesize the necessary enzymes, but it is possible that some symbiotic gastrointestinal bacteria help them in breaking down polymers. It is worth recalling here that polyethylene, in which everything and everyone is now packaged, in Europe makes up 40% of all plastics, and 38% of all plastic that can be found in landfills. It is extremely stable and takes a very long time to decompose ( different types polyethylenes decompose naturally within a period of one hundred to four hundred years), so it is clear why the huge mass of polyethylene constitutes a serious environmental problem. And it is possible that this problem can be solved with the help of a large wax moth.