Wax moths and their parasitoid apanteles galleriae wilkinson from mid-hills of meghalaya

Beekeeping is an agroindustry which has coexisted wax moth threat, especially during dearth period. Studies conducted on the incidence of wax moths revealed their peak incidence (35.00± 0.57 larvae/ colony) during 3^rd week of September in the mid-hills of Meghalaya. The presence of Apanteles galleriae, an endolarval parasitoid was confirmed by its emergence from 1st week of May to 1st week of November with peak emergence (11.00± 0.57) being during September. Maximum parasitization up to 40% was observed during 3rd week of August coinciding with maximum availability of host with a female biased sex ratio. Study on the greater wax moth Galleria mellonella L. and lesser wax moth Achroia grisella F. as hosts at different temperatures (20°C± 1 and 30°C± 1°C) had no significant effect on biological parameters of A. galleriae. It was observed that at lower temperature A. galleriae took longer time to complete the lifecycle on both the hosts.