Coxiella burnetii is a Gram negative intracellular bacterium and is the causative agent of the zoonotic disease Q fever. Several rodent and non-human primate models of virulent phase I C. burnetii (NMI) have been developed and have been used to determine the efficacy of antibiotics and vaccine candidates. However, there are several advantages to using insect models to study host-microbe interactions, such as reduced animal use, lowered cost and ease of manipulation in high containment. In addition, many laboratories use the avirulent phase II C. burnetii clone (NMII) to study cellular interactions and identify novel virulence determinants using genetic manipulation. We report that larvae of the greater wax moth, Galleria mellonella, are susceptible to infection with both C. burnetii NMI and NMII. Following sub-cutaneous infection, we report that intracellular bacteria are present within haemocytes and that larval death occurred in a dose-dependent manner. Additionally, we have used the model to characterise the role of the type 4 secretion system (T4SS) in virulence of C. burnetii NMII and to determine antibiotic efficacy in a non-mammalian model of disease.