Detection and description of four Vespa mandarinia (Hymenoptera, Vespidae) nests in western North America

By

Looney, Chris
Carman, Brant
Cena, Jenni
Cichorz, Cassie
Iyer, Vikram
Orr, Jessica
Roueché, Nathan
Salp, Karla
Serrano, Jacqueline
Udo, Landon
Van Westendorp, Paul
Wilson, Telissa
Wojahn, Rian
Spichiger, Sven-Erik

Type

Article

Date of Publication

2023

Original Publication

Journal of Hymenoptera research

Volume

96

Pages

1--20

Subjects

community science , eradication , radio-tracking , social Hymenoptera

Contributed by

Pensoft Publishers

Language

English

Published by

Washington, D.C International Society of Hymenopterists

Identifiers

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3897/jhr.96.99307

 

Abstract

Vespa mandarinia Smith 1852 is a semi-specialized predator of other social Hymenoptera and one of the two largest species of Vespa. Several individuals of this predatory wasp were detected in Canada and the United States in 2019, including an entire nest that was located and destroyed on Vancouver Island, British Columbia. The Washington State Department of Agriculture and the United States Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service have collaborated to survey Washington State for V. mandarinia since 2020, using traps staffed by agency personnel, collaborators from local governments and nongovernmental organizations, and the general public. Trap data and public reports were used to select sites for live-trapping or net surveys, and live hornets captured in these efforts were subsequently collected and fitted with radio tags to locate nests. The survey ultimately led to the discovery of a V. mandarinia nest in October 2020, and three nests in August and September 2021. All of the nests were located within in red alder trees (Alnus rubra), with one just above the ground in a standing dead tree, and the other three in cavities ~2 to 5 meters above the ground in living trees. The number of combs in each nest varied between four and ten, cells between 418 and 1,329, and total hornets per nest between 449 and 1,474 (including immature and mature stages). Together, the four nests indicate an incipient population of V. mandarinia in the Cascadia region, and ongoing action by local, state, provincial, and federal governments, and residents of both countries is required to avoid the establishment of this exotic species in the region.