What Is Wax Moth Larvae?
Wax moths are small insects that get their name from their fondness for honeycombs and other materials made of beeswax. The arthropod that requires only bee products for reproduction (larval nutrition). The wax moth is a unique creature that can feed on wax. This is thanks to special enzymes contained in moth larvae. The same enzymes can dissolve the wax-like shells of bacteria and viruses, making them easily accessible to human immune cells. They feed on the comb itself as well as pollen and nectar stored in the hive. A wax moth consumes the honeycomb of honey bee hives, including wax, propolis, honey, bee bread and pollen.
The larvae itself, as a protein organism, is of no value in this case. The release of cleavage enzymes occurs during feeding, i.e. during eating wax and other bee products, and naturally, as it should be, they get into the intestine. There the whole mass of substances is concentrated, which is a mixture of enzymes (cerase) and other active elements (amino acids, polyunsaturated lipids, vitamins, trace elements).
What Do Wax Moth Larvae Eat?
Wax moths larvae eat beeswax, pollen, propolis, and honey from honey bee hives. Wax moths tunnel through hives, feeding on their structures and damaging their combs. As adult wax moths do not feed during their lifetime. The larvae of the large wax moth are unique in that they feed on beeswax and are able to digest it, which is something no other living organism (except for some types of fungi) can do. To digest wax they are helped by a unique substance - cerase, localized in the intestines of larvae and is their digestive enzyme. There are no natural or artificially synthesized analogs of the digestive enzyme cerase.
Where Do Wax Moths Live?
Wax moths live in beehives, laying their eggs in crevices within the hives. The larvae develop within the comb of the hive and line the tunnels with materials they produce as they develop.
When wax moths are in their pupal stage, they build cocoons within the hive. Wax moths have a life cycle that is mostly focused within honeybee hives.
How Can Wax Moths Be Beneficial to the Environment?
Wax moths are highly beneficial to the environment due to the fact that they naturally break down old, unused combs that are left over after bees abandon the hive or die.
Abandoned honeycombs can become filled with other insects and may attract rodents causing further trouble, further highlighting how wax moths can be beneficial in a particular environment.