The lesser wax moth (''Achroia grisella'') is a small moth of the
snout moth
The Pyralidae, commonly called pyralid moths, snout moths or grass moths, are a family of Lepidoptera in the ditrysian superfamily Pyraloidea. In many (particularly older) classifications, the grass moths (Crambidae) are included in the Pyralida ...
family (
Pyralidae
The Pyralidae, commonly called pyralid moths, snout moths or grass moths, are a family of Lepidoptera in the ditrysian superfamily Pyraloidea. In many (particularly older) classifications, the grass moths (Crambidae) are included in the Pyrali ...
) that belongs to the
subfamily
In biological classification, a subfamily (Latin: ', plural ') is an auxiliary (intermediate) taxonomic rank, next below family but more inclusive than genus. Standard nomenclature rules end subfamily botanical names with "-oideae", and zoologi ...
Galleriinae
The Galleriinae are a subfamily of snout moths (family Pyralidae) and occur essentially worldwide, in some cases aided by involuntary introduction by humans. This subfamily includes the wax moths, whose caterpillars (waxworms) are bred on a comme ...
. The species was first described by
Johan Christian Fabricius
Johan Christian Fabricius (7 January 1745 – 3 March 1808) was a Danish zoologist, specialising in "Insecta", which at that time included all arthropods: insects, arachnids, crustaceans and others. He was a student of Carl Linnaeus, and is cons ...
in 1794. Adults are about 0.5 inches (13 mm) in length and have a distinct yellow head with a silver-grey or beige body.
Lesser wax moths are common in most parts of the world, except in areas with cold
climate
Climate is the long-term weather pattern in an area, typically averaged over 30 years. More rigorously, it is the mean and variability of meteorological variables over a time spanning from months to millions of years. Some of the meteorologic ...
s. Their geographic spread was aided by humans who inadvertently introduced them to many regions worldwide.
The mating systems of the lesser wax moth are well researched because they involve sound production. Lesser wax males produce
ultrasonic
Ultrasound is sound waves with frequencies higher than the upper audible limit of human hearing. Ultrasound is not different from "normal" (audible) sound in its physical properties, except that humans cannot hear it. This limit varies fr ...
pulses in order to attract females.
Females seek the most attractive males and base their decisions on characteristics of the male sound.
While
sex pheromones
Sex pheromones are pheromones released by an organism to attract an individual of the same species, encourage them to mate with them, or perform some other function closely related with sexual reproduction.
Sex pheromones specifically focus on ind ...
are also emitted by the males, male calling is more effective in attracting mates.
Because lesser wax moths eat unoccupied
honey bee combs, they are considered pests to
bees and
beekeeper
A beekeeper is a person who keeps honey bees.
Beekeepers are also called honey farmers, apiarists, or less commonly, apiculturists (both from the Latin '' apis'', bee; cf. apiary). The term beekeeper refers to a person who keeps honey bees i ...
s. However, unoccupied combs can harbor harmful
pathogen
In biology, a pathogen ( el, πάθος, "suffering", "passion" and , "producer of") in the oldest and broadest sense, is any organism or agent that can produce disease. A pathogen may also be referred to as an infectious agent, or simply a germ ...
s that inflict damage to neighboring insects. By eating the combs, the moths can reduce the harm to insects of that region and provide a clean space for other organisms to inhabit.
Geographic range
Lesser wax moths are known or suspected to inhabit most of Africa (including
Madagascar
Madagascar (; mg, Madagasikara, ), officially the Republic of Madagascar ( mg, Repoblikan'i Madagasikara, links=no, ; french: République de Madagascar), is an island country in the Indian Ocean, approximately off the coast of East Africa ...
),
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...
, Europe (especially some more remote regions, such as
Greece
Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders with ...
) and North America, as well as parts of the
Neotropics
The Neotropical realm is one of the eight biogeographic realms constituting Earth's land surface. Physically, it includes the tropics, tropical Ecoregion#Terrestrial, terrestrial ecoregions of the Americas and the entire South American temperat ...
(such as
Colombia
Colombia (, ; ), officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country in South America with insular regions in North America—near Nicaragua's Caribbean coast—as well as in the Pacific Ocean. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Car ...
,
Jamaica
Jamaica (; ) is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea. Spanning in area, it is the third-largest island of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean (after Cuba and Hispaniola). Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, and west of His ...
,
Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico (; abbreviated PR; tnq, Boriken, ''Borinquen''), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico ( es, link=yes, Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico, lit=Free Associated State of Puerto Rico), is a Caribbean island and Unincorporated ...
and
Trinidad
Trinidad is the larger and more populous of the two major islands of Trinidad and Tobago. The island lies off the northeastern coast of Venezuela and sits on the continental shelf of South America. It is often referred to as the southernmos ...
), the
Bengal
Bengal ( ; bn, বাংলা/বঙ্গ, translit=Bānglā/Bôngô, ) is a geopolitical, cultural and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the eastern part of the Indian subcontinent at the apex of the Bay of Bengal, predom ...
region,
Japan
Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...
,
Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...
,
New Zealand
New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...
, and the
Marquesas Islands
The Marquesas Islands (; french: Îles Marquises or ' or '; Marquesan: ' ( North Marquesan) and ' ( South Marquesan), both meaning "the land of men") are a group of volcanic islands in French Polynesia, an overseas collectivity of France in th ...
and
Tahiti
Tahiti (; Tahitian ; ; previously also known as Otaheite) is the largest island of the Windward group of the Society Islands in French Polynesia. It is located in the central part of the Pacific Ocean and the nearest major landmass is Austr ...
in
French Polynesia
)Territorial motto: ( en, "Great Tahiti of the Golden Haze")
, anthem =
, song_type = Regional anthem
, song = " Ia Ora 'O Tahiti Nui"
, image_map = French Polynesia on the globe (French Polynesia centered).svg
, map_alt = Location of Frenc ...
.
Climate
Lesser wax moths are found everywhere that honey bees are present, but they are more successful in warmer,
tropical
The tropics are the regions of Earth surrounding the Equator. They are defined in latitude by the Tropic of Cancer in the Northern Hemisphere at N and the Tropic of Capricorn in
the Southern Hemisphere at S. The tropics are also referred to ...
areas than in colder climates. Although they cannot live in freezing temperatures for an extended period, they are more successful in lower temperatures than the related
greater wax moth
''Galleria mellonella'', the greater wax moth or honeycomb moth, is a moth of the family Pyralidae. ''G. mellonella'' is found throughout the world. It is one of two species of wax moths, with the other being the lesser wax moth. ''G. mellonella ...
.
Food resources
Larvae diet
Feeding occurs only during the larval life stage. Larvae feed on weak bee colonies. Therefore, the amount of food that the larvae can eat depends on the amount of material that the bee colony produced, as well as the number of moth generations that have persisted on the same comb since the initial
infestation
Infestation is the state of being invaded or overrun by pests or parasites. It can also refer to the actual organisms living on or within a host.
Terminology
In general, the term "infestation" refers to parasitic diseases caused by animals s ...
began.
Larvae move through the bee comb and spin
silk
Silk is a natural protein fiber, some forms of which can be woven into textiles. The protein fiber of silk is composed mainly of fibroin and is produced by certain insect larvae to form cocoons. The best-known silk is obtained from the coc ...
tunnels. They cover the silk with their
frass
Frass refers loosely to the more or less solid excreta of insects, and to certain other related matter.
Definition and etymology
''Frass'' is an informal term and accordingly it is variously used and variously defined. It is derived from the ...
. Tunneling through honeycombs not only provides food, but also protects the larvae from the defending
worker bee
A worker bee is any female (eusocial) bee that lacks the full reproductive capacity of the colony's queen bee; under most circumstances, this is correlated to an increase in certain non-reproductive activities relative to a queen. While worker be ...
s.
The larvae prefer to eat honey bee larvae,
pupa
A pupa ( la, pupa, "doll"; plural: ''pupae'') is the life stage of some insects undergoing transformation between immature and mature stages. Insects that go through a pupal stage are holometabolous: they go through four distinct stages in their ...
e, and
pollen
Pollen is a powdery substance produced by seed plants. It consists of pollen grains (highly reduced microgametophytes), which produce male gametes (sperm cells). Pollen grains have a hard coat made of sporopollenin that protects the gametophyt ...
, but will also feed on
honey
Honey is a sweet and viscous substance made by several bees, the best-known of which are honey bees. Honey is made and stored to nourish bee colonies. Bees produce honey by gathering and then refining the sugary secretions of plants (primar ...
.
Unusual foods that larvae can feed on are dried vegetable remains,
dried fruits
Dried fruit is fruit from which the majority of the original water content has been removed either naturally, through sun drying, or through the use of specialized dryers or dehydrators. Dried fruit has a long tradition of use dating back to th ...
(especially
apple
An apple is an edible fruit produced by an apple tree (''Malus domestica''). Apple fruit tree, trees are agriculture, cultivated worldwide and are the most widely grown species in the genus ''Malus''. The tree originated in Central Asia, wh ...
s and
raisin
A raisin is a dried grape. Raisins are produced in many regions of the world and may be eaten raw or used in cooking, baking, and brewing. In the United Kingdom, Ireland, New Zealand, and Australia, the word ''raisin'' is reserved for the d ...
s),
horn
Horn most often refers to:
*Horn (acoustic), a conical or bell shaped aperture used to guide sound
** Horn (instrument), collective name for tube-shaped wind musical instruments
*Horn (anatomy), a pointed, bony projection on the head of various ...
shavings (an
organic fertilizer
Organic fertilizers are fertilizers that are naturally produced. Fertilizers are materials that can be added to soil or plants, in order to provide nutrients and sustain growth. Typical organic fertilizers include all animal waste including mea ...
),
cork
Cork or CORK may refer to:
Materials
* Cork (material), an impermeable buoyant plant product
** Cork (plug), a cylindrical or conical object used to seal a container
***Wine cork
Places Ireland
* Cork (city)
** Metropolitan Cork, also known as G ...
, and even refined
sugar
Sugar is the generic name for sweet-tasting, soluble carbohydrates, many of which are used in food. Simple sugars, also called monosaccharides, include glucose, fructose, and galactose. Compound sugars, also called disaccharides or double ...
.
Sometimes greater wax moths can be found in the same comb as lesser wax moths. In these cases, the greater wax moths will compete with the lesser wax moths for the best feeding regions of the comb. In general, the greater wax moth is victorious and the lesser wax larvae are forced to feed on the
hive floor.
Parental care
Oviposition
Females deposit their eggs in crevices in or near bee hives so that a food source will be close to the emerging larvae. When a female has found an acceptable spot, she extends her body into the crevice and then lays her eggs. A female lays on average 250-300 eggs in her lifetime.
Life history
Egg
The eggs are similar to those of greater wax moths. They are spherical and creamy white in color. Eggs hatch in about five to eight days but warmer temperatures shorten the hatching time.
Larvae
Larvae
A larva (; plural larvae ) is a distinct juvenile form many animals undergo before metamorphosis into adults. Animals with indirect development such as insects, amphibians, or cnidarians typically have a larval phase of their life cycle.
The ...
take on average six to seven weeks to fully develop, but they can take up to five months. They reach about 20 mm in length and have narrow white bodies with a brown head. This is the only life stage in which lesser wax moths eat.
Pupa
The
pupae
A pupa ( la, pupa, "doll"; plural: ''pupae'') is the life stage of some insects undergoing transformation between immature and mature stages. Insects that go through a pupal stage are holometabolous: they go through four distinct stages in their ...
are 11 mm in length and are a yellow tan color. The silk
cocoon is white but is usually covered with
frass
Frass refers loosely to the more or less solid excreta of insects, and to certain other related matter.
Definition and etymology
''Frass'' is an informal term and accordingly it is variously used and variously defined. It is derived from the ...
. On average, the adults emerge after 37 days, but pupation can take up to 2 months.
Adult
Adults are a silver, grey, or beige with a yellow head. They are thin and are 0.5 inches in length with a
wingspan
The wingspan (or just span) of a bird or an airplane is the distance from one wingtip to the other wingtip. For example, the Boeing 777–200 has a wingspan of , and a wandering albatross (''Diomedea exulans'') caught in 1965 had a wingspan of ...
of 0.5 inches. Males tend to be smaller than females. Adults live for about a week and most of their activity, including female
oviposition
The ovipositor is a tube-like organ used by some animals, especially insects, for the laying of eggs. In insects, an ovipositor consists of a maximum of three pairs of appendages. The details and morphology of the ovipositor vary, but typical ...
and mating, occurs at night.
Males can be seen in their mating position anywhere between six and ten hours in a single night.
During the day, the adults hide in foliage close to bee hives.
File:Achroia grisella caterpillars, kleine wasmot rupsen.jpg, Larvae
File:Achroia grisella cocoons, kleine wasmot cocons.jpg, Pupa
File:Achroia grisella female2.jpg, Adult female
Enemies
Predators
In order to attract mates, male lesser wax moths stay in a stationary position and emit a high-frequency sound.
Bats
Bats are mammals of the order Chiroptera.''cheir'', "hand" and πτερόν''pteron'', "wing". With their forelimbs adapted as wings, they are the only mammals capable of true and sustained flight. Bats are more agile in flight than most bi ...
, such as ''
Rhinolophus ferrumequinum
The greater horseshoe bat (''Rhinolophus ferrumequinum'') is an insectivorous bat of the genus '' Rhinolophus''. Its distribution covers Europe, Northern Africa, Central Asia and Eastern Asia. It is the largest of the horseshoe bats in Europe an ...
,'' can hear this sound.
Thus, both the male's high-frequency calling and its stationary position leave it vulnerable to attacks by bats. Even though the bats do not exist in some of the areas where moths are currently found, the lesser wax moth has retained its evolutionary mode of defense from its native land.
Defense
The bat calling sound is a long and slowly repeating signal.
If males hear the call of an approaching bat or a similar sound, they will stop their mate calling.
The males will remain silent for several milliseconds to more than a minute. More sexually attractive males, those with higher single pulse pair rates and amplitudes, experience a higher risk of predation because they resume mate calling sooner than less attractive males. This may occur because the attractive males are better equipped to escape from bats, thus decreasing the apparently high risk. Another theory is that risk taking could be a
sexually selected trait.
Females can decipher between the moth calling and the bat calling sound. During mate calling, females fan their wings. However, when they hear the bat's sound, they stop fanning their wings. In order to avoid being captured by bats, the moths fly erratically, fall to the ground, or fly away from the source of the sound.
Mating
Mate searching behavior
In the lesser wax moth species, the males engage in signaling behavior while the females engage in searching roles.
Pheromones
Lesser wax male moths emit a
sex pheromone
Sex pheromones are pheromones released by an organism to attract an individual of the same species, encourage them to mate with them, or perform some other function closely related with sexual reproduction.
Sex pheromones specifically focus on ind ...
that is made up of two components: n-undecanal and cis-11-n-octadecenal.
The pheromone is released from wing glands.
It is attractive to females over long distances, but the pheromones alone are not sufficient to generate mating behaviors.
When males are under attack by bats, they stop producing calling sounds but will continue emitting the pheromone.
Sound
The lesser wax moth
mating system
A mating system is a way in which a group is structured in relation to sexual behaviour. The precise meaning depends upon the context. With respect to animals, the term describes which males and females mating, mate under which circumstances. Reco ...
is based on sound. Experiments have shown that sounds from a speaker are able to elicit the same attractive result from females as live males that release both sound and pheromones. Males emit short
ultrasonic
Ultrasound is sound waves with frequencies higher than the upper audible limit of human hearing. Ultrasound is not different from "normal" (audible) sound in its physical properties, except that humans cannot hear it. This limit varies fr ...
pulses with a high
frequency
Frequency is the number of occurrences of a repeating event per unit of time. It is also occasionally referred to as ''temporal frequency'' for clarity, and is distinct from ''angular frequency''. Frequency is measured in hertz (Hz) which is eq ...
of 100 kHz and an intensity of 93 dB. The signal of the sound can differ significantly between males. For example, there can be a 15 dB range in peak
amplitude
The amplitude of a periodic variable is a measure of its change in a single period (such as time or spatial period). The amplitude of a non-periodic signal is its magnitude compared with a reference value. There are various definitions of amplit ...
between males in the same population.
The male calling characteristics may be
genetic and inherited.
Pulse amplitude is also positively correlated to a male moth's weight.
Effects of temperature
Components of the male ultrasonic pulses are genetically based, but environmental temperature can affect the specific genotype's performance.
As temperature increases, a lesser wax moth male's pulse rate increases and the female's acceptance threshold for rates increases. These changes most likely occur due to physiological effects, but the increase in pulse rate and acceptance threshold may also be used to avoid
predation
Predation is a biological interaction where one organism, the predator, kills and eats another organism, its prey. It is one of a family of common feeding behaviours that includes parasitism and micropredation (which usually do not kill the ...
. Additionally, the increase in female acceptance threshold allows them to continue choosing the most attractive male by not mistaking a low-quality male for high-quality due to his new, faster pulse rate.
Mate choice
Although pheromones alone do not cause a female to move towards a male for mating, odor, signal location, and male-male interactions may play a role in male attractiveness.
Females mainly select males based on the characteristics of their call. Females prefer males with a fast pulse pair rate, high peak song amplitude, and large wing beat asynchrony.
This preference may be
evolutionary
Evolution is change in the heredity, heritable Phenotypic trait, characteristics of biological populations over successive generations. These characteristics are the Gene expression, expressions of genes, which are passed on from parent to ...
, with signal quality being an indicator of a male's gene quality.
Because female choice occurs between aggregated males at leks, they assess a male's call in relation to his neighbors. In other words, at leks, the relative threshold sounds are determinate of male attractiveness rather than absolute threshold. If an individual is in a group of males with high quality sounds, their individual relative attractiveness decreases. There also seems to be some variation in female preference. Because some signal characteristics are
heritable
Heredity, also called inheritance or biological inheritance, is the passing on of traits from parents to their offspring; either through asexual reproduction or sexual reproduction, the offspring cells or organisms acquire the genetic informa ...
, female preference could lead to evolutionary changes in mate calling.
Lekking
Sexual selection
Sexual selection is a mode of natural selection in which members of one biological sex mate choice, choose mates of the other sex to mating, mate with (intersexual selection), and compete with members of the same sex for access to members of t ...
occurs near honey bee colonies. The males will group together on grass or leaves near the colony where they spent most of their life.
These
leks
A lek is an aggregation of male animals gathered to engage in competitive displays and courtship rituals, known as lekking, to entice visiting females which are surveying prospective partners with which to mate. A lek can also indicate an avail ...
are small and occur in the night.
Because the moths are close together in the leks, some males will purposely run into stationary neighbors who are in the process of signaling in order to move them.
Additionally, studies have been conducted that show these moths increase their signal rate when having to compete with others for a local female, but due to the physical demands of an increased signal rate, its duration typically lasts only five to ten minutes. It has been concluded that these are the most prevalent few minutes of the entire six to ten hours spent active each night.
Physiology
Hearing
Sound generation
Males produce
ultrasonic
Ultrasound is sound waves with frequencies higher than the upper audible limit of human hearing. Ultrasound is not different from "normal" (audible) sound in its physical properties, except that humans cannot hear it. This limit varies fr ...
pulses to attract mates. The sound is produced by a
tymbal
The tymbal (or timbal) is the corrugated exoskeletal structure used to produce sounds in insects. In male cicadas, the tymbals are membranes in the abdomen, responsible for the characteristic sound produced by the insect. In tiger moths, the t ...
on each
tegula, which covers the
forewing
Insect wings are adult outgrowths of the insect exoskeleton that enable insects to fly. They are found on the second and third thoracic segments (the mesothorax and metathorax), and the two pairs are often referred to as the forewings and hindwin ...
.
The left and right tymbals emit pulses slightly asynchronously.
In order for sound production to occur, the tegula has to be raised and the wings have to be fanned at a 45
° arc.
A pair of asynchronous pulses are produced during each up and down stroke of the wings.
The pulses of sound have a frequency of 100 kHz which is in the middle of the moth's hearing range (20–200 kHz).
Interactions with humans
Pest of beekeepers
Bald brood
A disorder called bald brood occurs in hives infested by lesser wax moths. When feeding on the
comb
A comb is a tool consisting of a shaft that holds a row of teeth for pulling through the hair to clean, untangle, or style it. Combs have been used since prehistoric times, having been discovered in very refined forms from settlements dating ba ...
, larvae tunnel under capped cells containing honey bee pupae. This movement causes the caps to become defective. The worker bees will then remove the defective caps. The name bald brood refers to the remaining uncapped cells that reveal the residing pupa.
Prevention
In order to prevent a lesser wax moth
infestation
Infestation is the state of being invaded or overrun by pests or parasites. It can also refer to the actual organisms living on or within a host.
Terminology
In general, the term "infestation" refers to parasitic diseases caused by animals s ...
in honey bee hives,
beekeepers
A beekeeper is a person who keeps honey bees.
Beekeepers are also called honey farmers, apiarists, or less commonly, apiculturists (both from the Latin '' apis'', bee; cf. apiary). The term beekeeper refers to a person who keeps honey bees i ...
must maintain healthy, functioning hives. In healthy hives, workers will remove defective bee larvae and quickly seal up the cell that had contained the larvae. In this way, moths are unable to lay eggs in the vacant cells. If the hives become weak, the workers may not be able to close vacant cells, leaving the hive open to infestation. Therefore, stored combs that do not have any worker bees are highly susceptible to attacks by the lesser wax moths.
Control
Temperature regulation
Temperature can play a crucial role in lesser wax larvae activity and survival. At , the larvae can survive but they become less active. Larvae cannot survive in freezing temperatures. In order to ensure that hive products are safe for humans to consume, beekeepers can freeze the hives for one to two days at . Extreme heat () can also be used to kill larvae, but combs are susceptible to melting at similar high temperatures.
Fumigation
Fumigation is a method of pest control or the removal of harmful micro-organisms by completely filling an area with gaseous pesticides—or fumigants—to suffocate or poison the pests within. It is used to control pests in buildings (s ...
Different chemicals can be used to kill lesser wax larvae, but many of them can be harmful to both the comb and humans. For example,
carbon monoxide
Carbon monoxide (chemical formula CO) is a colorless, poisonous, odorless, tasteless, flammable gas that is slightly less dense than air. Carbon monoxide consists of one carbon atom and one oxygen atom connected by a triple bond. It is the simple ...
is effective in killing the larvae and the comb is left unharmed, but it is toxic to the person administering the fumes.
''Bacillus thuringiensis''
''
Bacillus thuringiensis
''Bacillus thuringiensis'' (or Bt) is a gram-positive, soil-dwelling bacterium, the most commonly used biological pesticide worldwide. ''B. thuringiensis'' also occurs naturally in the gut of caterpillars of various types of moths and butterflie ...
'' is a microbial insecticide. When consumed, it is lethal to lesser wax larvae. However, bees are immune to the insecticide's harmful effects because even if the bees ingest the wax, they cannot digest the pesticide. When a powder containing ''B. thuringiensis'' is mixed with beeswax present in bee combs, the lesser wax moth is killed and the bees remained unharmed. While a ''B. thuringiensis''-infused liquid can also be used, the powder is more effective and remains protective to bee combs for two years.
See also
*
Colony collapse disorder
Colony collapse disorder (CCD) is an abnormal phenomenon that occurs when the majority of worker bees in a honey bee colony disappear, leaving behind a queen, plenty of food, and a few nurse bees to care for the remaining immature bees. While s ...
References
Further reading
*"Wax Moth". 2001. Blessed Bee Apiaries Incorporated. 7 October 2006
*https://web.archive.org/web/20061002061713/http://www.blessedbee.ca/encyclopedia/honeybees/diseases/waxmoths.php
*
*
{{Taxonbar , from=Q1071861
Galleriini
Agricultural pest insects
Cosmopolitan moths
Moths described in 1794
Taxa named by Johan Christian Fabricius