Life Table and Demographic Parameters of the Lesser Wax Moth, Achroia grisella, Reared on Natural Honey Bee Wax

Life table is one of the useful procedures to understand the population dynamic of a specie. The population growth of the insect can be studied by using the demographic studies of insect species and summarize the data collected from the population as well as understanding the dynamics. This study was carried out to track the demographic processes, such as birth, death, and fecundity, as these affect the size and composition of the population of A. grisella in laboratory conditions. In addition, a life table on honey bee wax is constructed to estimate the rate of population growth and survival of this pest. A stock culture was started by 30 pairs of adult moths to lay eggs. The newly hatched larvae were raised on sanitized combs, and the culture was placed and allowed to reproduce at a room temperature of 31±1°C and 66.28±3% RH with 12L: 12D photoperiod in a closed aquarium tank (9.2×16×9.2 cm). The aquarium was covered with muslin cloth for good aeration in the laboratory. The results show that, the net reproductive rate (Ro) was 29.81 females per female cohort per day. This indicates that within two months (Ro > 1), the population will increase and multiply by this value in the next generation. The infinite rate of natural increase (λ) value was 2.55 female per female per day. This study shows that the estimated intrinsic rate of increase equals to the positive value of 0.94 females per female per day, which indicates that the population of A. grisella will increase under laboratory conditions and could be successfully cultured in mass production.