CreatureData

Wax moth

Galleria mellonella (Linnaeus, 1758)

Status not recordedbutterflies and moths

The wax moth (Galleria mellonella) is a species in the family Pyralidae, order Lepidoptera.

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Quick facts about the wax moth

Weight
Not recorded
Length
Not recorded
Lifespan
Not recorded
Main food
Not recorded
Habitat
Not recorded
Young per litter or clutch
Not recorded
Conservation status
Not recorded
Countries on record
Not recorded

Where does the wax moth live?

Not recorded

Where has it been introduced?

The Global Register of Introduced and Invasive Species lists the wax moth as introduced in 6 countries, and flagged as invasive in 1 of them.

  1. Estoniainvasive
  2. Ireland
  3. South Africa
  4. Sweden
  5. United States
  6. Venezuela

Introduced means brought by people and now present; invasive means the country's checklist records an impact. A species can be native to one part of a country and introduced in another. Source: Global Register of Introduced and Invasive Species (CC BY 4.0).

Is the wax moth endangered?

No conservation assessment is recorded for this species in our sources. That is not the same as being safe: it has not been matched to an assessment.

How is the wax moth classified?

  1. kingdomAnimalia
  2. phylumArthropoda
  3. classInsecta
  4. orderLepidoptera
  5. familyPyralidae
  6. genusGalleria
  7. SpeciesGalleria mellonella (Linnaeus, 1758)

Synonyms Galleria austrina, Galleria austrinia, Galleria cerea, Galleria cerealis, Galleria cereana, Galleria cerella, Galleria crombruggheela, Galleria mellomella, Galleria obliquella, Phalaena cereana, Phalaena mellonella, Tinea cerea, Tinea cerella, Tinea mellonella, Vindana obliquella

Other names and names in other languages (31)
  • Greater wax mothEnglish
  • zavíječ voskovýCzech
  • Gwyfyn CŵyrWelsh
  • BimølDanish
  • Große WachsmotteGerman
  • Polilla de la ceraSpanish
  • isovahakoisaFinnish
  • Teigne de la cireFrench
  • עש הדונג הגדולHebrew
  • Nagy viaszmolyHungarian
  • Tarma maggiore della ceraItalian
  • ハチノスツヅリガJapanese
  • Vaškinis ugniukasLithuanian
  • stor bivoksmottNorwegian Bokmål
  • Grote wasmotDutch
  • barciak większyPolish
  • traça-da-ceraPortuguese
  • Большая восковая мольRussian
  • vijačka voštinováSlovak
  • Восков мољацSerbian
  • vaxmottSwedish
  • Bal Mumu GüvesiTurkish
  • 大蠟蛾Chinese
  • Gwyfynod CŵyrWelsh
  • HonningmølDanish
  • Stort voksmølDanish
  • VoksmølDanish
  • Fausse teigne de la cireFrench
  • Fausse teigne de la cire (La)French
  • större vaxmottSwedish
  • stort vaxmottSwedish

Catalogue of Life

Relatives of the wax moth

Other species in the same genus Galleria.

CompareWax moth vs Galleria similis

Common questions

Answered only where our data holds the answer.

Is the wax moth an invasive species?

In some places. The Global Register of Introduced and Invasive Species flags the wax moth as invasive in 1 country: Estonia. It lists it as introduced in 6 in all.

What kind of animal is the wax moth?

The wax moth (Galleria mellonella) belongs to the family Pyralidae in the order Lepidoptera.

Sources and how to cite this page

Data as of 2026-11-13. How this page is put together.

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APA

CreatureData. (2026). Wax moth (Galleria mellonella). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/wax-moth

MLA

“Wax moth (Galleria mellonella).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/wax-moth.

BibTeX
@misc{wax_moth_2026,
  title = {Wax moth (Galleria mellonella)},
  author = {{CreatureData}},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/wax-moth},
  note = {Data as of 2026-11-13}
}