Waxworm

They are recommended for use as a treat rather than a staple food, due to their relative lack of nutrients when compared to crickets and mealworms.

They can also be used as food for captive predatory insects reared in terraria, such as assassin bugs in the genus Platymeris, and are also occasionally used to feed certain kinds of fish in the wild, such as bluegills (Lepomis macrochirus).

Waxworms can replace mammals in certain types of scientific experiments with animal testing, especially in studies examining the virulence mechanisms of bacterial and fungal pathogens.

Additionally, the considerable cost savings when using waxworms instead of small mammals (usually mice, hamsters, or guinea pigs) allows testing throughput that is otherwise impossible.

[7][8] Two species of waxworm, Galleria mellonella and Plodia interpunctella have both been observed eating and digesting polyethylene plastic (plastivory).

[10] Two strains of bacteria, Enterobacter asburiae and Bacillus sp, isolated from the guts of Plodia interpunctella waxworms, have been shown to decompose polyethylene in laboratory testing.

Placed in a polyethylene shopping bag, about 100 Galleria mellonella waxworms consumed almost 0.1 g (0.0035 oz) of the plastic over the course of 12 hours in laboratory conditions.

[13] A non-peer reviewed research study in 2020 questioned the ability of G. mellonella caterpillars to digest and biologically degrade polyethylene.