BIODEGRADATION OF SILOBAGS BY THE WAX MOTH LARVAE OF Achroia grisella F. AND Galleria mellonella L. (Lepidoptera, Pyralidae)

OCCHIONERO MARIA ANGELICA; RUIZ J; MONMANY-GARZIA AC; MALIZIA A; MARTÍN E; CHALUP A; DE CRISTÓBAL R; GALINDOCARDONA A

Biocell

Tech Science Press (TSP)

Lugar: Henderson, Nevada; Año: 2019 vol. 43

1667-5746

Human consumption leads to an excess of plastic waste on the planet that results in 5,700 million tons not recycled per year. Some insects are able to consume and degrade plastics. In Tucumán, we recorded larvae of the moths Achroia grisella F. and Galleria mellonella L. (Pyralidae, Lepidoptera) consuming silobags (SB). Although we do not know the origin and mechanisms of plastic degrading enzymes, they could be related to bacteria on the body surface or in the digestive tract of larvae. The objectives of our work were to determine if the degrading agents are on the surface of the larvae and to evaluate differences in SB consumption among larvae bathed with antibiotics. Toeliminate the superficial microbiota, we washed larvae with 6 (A. grisella) and 7 (G. melonella) antibiotics plus a control group (n=6-10 per treatment, respectively). We monitored the development of each larva in Petri dishes containing previously weighted SB disks. Comparing the initial vs. final SB weights, we did not find significant differences in SB consumption by species between treatments and control, but the larvae completed their development. We conclude that the degrading bacteria are not found in the body surface of the larvae and that this activity would be due to agents in the digestive tract. We are currently isolating the microbiota of the digestive tractfor identification and studying the chemical composition of larval feces.