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Glite Dictionary
Galleria mellonella

Galleria mellonella

9.9
A moth whose caterpillars live in beehives and eat honeycomb, often damaging hives
  • noun
  • /ɡəˈlɛriə mɛləˈnɛlə/
  • Specialized
translation icon : Galleria mellonella
  • The larvae of Galleria mellonella can cause significant damage in beehives.

Examples

  • Beekeepers must protect their hives from infestations of Galleria mellonella.

  • The Galleria mellonella is known for damaging honeycombs.

  • Researchers often use Galleria mellonella as a model organism to study bacterial infections.

  • Have you ever seen a Galleria mellonella in the wild?

  • Beekeepers must protect their hives from infestations of Galleria mellonella.

  • The larvae of Galleria mellonella can cause significant damage in beehives.

  • The Galleria mellonella is often considered a pest in beekeeping.

Synonyms

wax moth
vsGalleria mellonella
8.3

A moth whose young caterpillars eat the honeycomb in beehives and damage bee colonies

is the formal scientific name used for that same larval pest
bee moth
vsGalleria mellonella
8.7

A small moth whose larvae eat wax and honeycomb in beehives

focuses on its role as a pest in beekeeping rather than its size

Surface Forms

Galleria mellonella singular
Galleria mellonellas plural

Morphology

Galleria + mellonella

This is a Latin scientific name (taxonomic binomial) rather than a compositional English phrase: 'mellonella' is not a standard dictionary word and 'Galleria' is a technical genus label. A B1 learner who knows English vocabulary would not reliably infer the specific biological meaning (a moth whose larvae feed on honeycombs) from these constituents, and scientific names are convention-based and therefore opaque to general learners.

Etymology

Galleria mellonella may come from the words Galleria meaning 'tunnel' and mellonella meaning 'little honey', because the moth's young make tunnel-like galleries inside bee honeycombs and eat the wax and honey, so the name reminds us they are a honeycomb pest.