THE LENGTH OF LIFE OF THE LARVA OF THE WAX 
MOTH, GALLERIA MELLONELLA L, IN ITS 
DIFFERENT STADIA 
Ruth W. Chase 
The work carried on with the wax moth, Galleria mellonella, 
was done entirely in the zoological laboratory of the University 
of Wisconsin, beginning with the first of October, 1916, and con¬ 
tinuing into the following May. The regular food used for the 
larvae was the brood-comb; some of it dry and pollen-filled, and 
some of it moist with honey. An excess of honey in the comb 
caused the death of several larvae, but on the other hand, young 
larvae did not thrive in too dry a comb; so a mixture was neces¬ 
sary. Great difficulties were experienced in keeping the young 
larvae alive when separated for experimentation from their nor¬ 
mal habitat, either because their tender skins could not endure 
handling, or because the food was too coarse for them at this age, 
or because some conditions of their surroundings were unfavor¬ 
able. Therefore, many different plans had to be tried, for suc¬ 
cessful separation in the early stages was the chief factor in the 
study of the life history. The length of the larval, pupal, and 
adult life being known through Paddock’s work 1 , the object was 
to obtain knowledge of ecdyses and, under these conditions, of 
the length of each stadium. 
Laboratory conditions were not suited to the life of the moth. 
Experiment showed that temperatures of 20° to 22° C. in winter 
did not result in normal life histories. The young larvae, while 
feeding, grew but little, remaining extremely small for months, 
and the time taken for the eggs to hatch was longer than that 
given by Paddock; thus a change of conditions was found neces¬ 
sary. In December moths were therefore put into a constant- 
temperature compartment at 35° C. (93° F.), which for at least 
1 Paddock, P. B. Life history and control of the wax moth or bee moth. 
Texas Agr. Exp. Sta., Bull. 155. 1913. 
263 
