Worker trapping: a sustainable management tool for invasive social wasps?

Abstract

The invasive social wasp Vespula germanica is a harmful pest, mainly in urban environments. Despite extensive research on ecology and control, there are currently no effective, sustainable strategies to manage populations in the invaded range. We evaluated the effects of worker trapping on V. germanica abundance and nest activity in Southern Argentina. During two consecutive years, a high-density trapping was deployed in four plots of one hectare each. The procedure consisted of placing 25 non-toxic meat-baited traps, creating a grid of 5 × 5 traps for 4 weeks. Worker wasp abundance and the traffic rate of all the nests in the plots were measured 1 week before and one after trapping. Our results showed that worker catches resulted in a 65% reduction in local wasp abundance and a 48% in traffic rate of nests within the treated area. Similarly, a decrease in wasp abundance was obtained one year after trapping. Employing worker trapping as a tool could prove useful and environmentally friendly in reducing local wasp abundance during peak activity.

Keywords:

• Mass trapping
• yellowjacket
• exotic social wasps
• pest control
• social insects

Acknowledgments

We thank Esteban Pizzio, Sebastian Olarte, and Elizabeth Zúñiga for helping us in carrying out fieldwork. Agustina Porrino helped us improve our manuscript.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

We acknowledge support from the Investigaciones Forestales y Agropecuarias Bariloche (IFAB). We would like to thank Municipalidad de San Carlos de Bariloche and Intendencia del Parque Nacional Nahuel Huapi for the permits granted to carry out this investigation. This study was financed by project PUE 0069 2018-IFAB and PIBAA 28720210100235C. This work was also supported by Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas.