BackgroundGalleria mellonella larvae were infected with conidia of Aspergillus fumigatus and the cellular and humoral immune responses of larvae to the pathogen were characterized as invasive aspergillosis developed.ResultsAt 2 h post-infection there was an increase in hemocyte density to 7.43 ± 0.50 × 106/ml from 0.98 ± 0.08 × 106/ml at 0 h. Hemocytes from larvae immune primed for 6 h with heat killed A. fumigatus conidia displayed superior anti-fungal activity. Examination of the spread of the fungus by Cryo-imaging and fluorescent microscopy revealed dissemination of the fungus through the larvae by 6 h and the formation of distinct nodules in tissue. By 24 h a range of nodules were visible at the site of infection and at sites distant from that indicating invasion of tissue. Proteomic analysis of larvae infected with viable conidia for 6 h demonstrated an increase in the abundance of gustatory receptor candidate 25 (37 fold), gloverin-like protein (14 fold), cecropin-A (11 fold). At 24 h post-infection gustatory receptor candidate 25 (126 fold), moricin-like peptide D (33 fold) and muscle protein 20-like protein (12 fold) were increased in abundance. Proteins decreased in abundance included fibrohexamerin (13 fold) and dimeric dihydrodiol dehydrogenase (8 fold).ConclusionThe results presented here indicate that G. mellonella larvae may be a convenient model for studying the stages in the development of invasive aspergillosis and may offer an insight into this process in mammals.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (10.1186/s12866-018-1208-6) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.