GALLERIA MELLONELLA

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does Galleria mellonella mean? 

• GALLERIA MELLONELLA (noun)
  The noun GALLERIA MELLONELLA has 1 sense:

1. moth whose larvae live in and feed on bee honeycombs

  Familiarity information: GALLERIA MELLONELLA used as a noun is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• GALLERIA MELLONELLA (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Moth whose larvae live in and feed on bee honeycombs

Classified under:

Nouns denoting animals

Synonyms:

bee moth; Galleria mellonella; wax moth

Hypernyms ("Galleria mellonella" is a kind of...):

pyralid; pyralid moth (usually tropical slender-bodied long-legged moth whose larvae are crop pests)

Holonyms ("Galleria mellonella" is a member of...):

Galleria; genus Galleria (a genus of Pyralidae)

 Context examples 

The common wax worm, or Galleria mellonella, researchers say, can eat plastic and could help reduce the waste caused by the one trillion polyethylene plastic bags used around the world annually.

(Plastic Eating Worm Could Help Ease Pollution, VOA)

We have found that the larva of a common insect, Galleria mellonella, is able to biodegrade one of the toughest, most resilient, and most used plastics: polyethylene, says Federica Bertocchini of the Institute of Biomedicine and Biotechnology of Cantabria in Spain.

(Plastic Eating Worm Could Help Ease Pollution, VOA)