Estudios

Vespa velutina has been rapidly expanding throughout Galicia since 2012. It is causing human health risks and well-known losses in the beekeeping sector. Control methods are scarce, unspecific, and ineffective. Semiochemicals are insect-derived chemicals that play a role in communication and they could be used an integrated pest management tool alternative to conventional pesticides. A previous determination of the organic chemical profile should be the first step in the study of these semiochemicals. HS-SPME in living individuals and the sting apparatus extraction followed by GC-MS spectrometry were combined to extract a possible profile of these compounds in 43 hornets from Galicia. The identified compounds were hydrocarbons, ketones, terpenes, and fatty acid, and fatty acid esters. Nonanal aldehyde appeared in important concentrations in living individuals. While pentadecane, 8-hexyl- and ethyl oleate were mainly extracted from the venom apparatus. Ketones 2-nonanone, 2-undecanone and 7-nonen-2-one, 4,8-dimethyl- were identified by both procedures, as was 1,7-Nonadiene, 4,8-dimethyl-. Some compounds were detected for the first time in V. velutina such as naphthalene, 1,6-dimethyl-4-(1-methylethyl). The chemical profile by caste was also characterized.

INIAV has presented the research progress of the Atlantic Positive project in the "XIX Congresso Ibérico de Entomologia" in Coimbra. 

You can download the summary of their paper and their presentation here. 

Vespa velutina: traits and impacts of a successful invasive alien species

The invasion of Vespa velutina Lepeletier, 1836 continues to expand into new areas. It is an invasive alien species that currently produces
social alarm and concern for its ecological, economic and social impacts. The objective of this work is to explore the biological traits of the species to
understand the reasons for its invasive success and impacts. These are related to aspects such as a complex social system, a versatile generalist behaviour
or a high reproductive rate added to its ability to establish colonies from a single mated queen. The impacts of this hymenopteran on ecosystems
and beekeeping are related to its behaviour as a predator of insect-pollinators, particularly honeybees. The increase of the population during summer
and its preference for urban and semi-urban areas entail frequent encounters with people, resulting in an increased risk of being stung. Its defences
involve chemical communication triggering collective attacks and the injection of a venom rich in toxins that impacts human health.

Map of the distribution of V. velutina in Europe: https://www.usc.gal/gl/investigacion/grupos/bibici/positive/Observations.html

This map represents observation records of Vespa velutina in Europe in a 10x10 km grid (centroids marked by GoogleMaps pins). A map of presence records in Asia (native and invaded area) can be found here.

Database of presence records

You can download the full list of Vespa velutina records here. For more info, check the metadata.

More info

EAPA_800/2018 - Atlantic-POSitiVE: Conservation of Atlantic pollination services and control of the invasive species Vespa velutina

WP5: Development of tools to monitor V. velutina: environmental mapping, photographs and dynamic modelling

Action 3: Public information record on the presence/absence of the invasive species in the Atlantic Area

Partner: Universidade de Santiago de Compostela (USC)

New article by one of the researchers of the project related to the research on V.Velutina

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-020-67183-3

Abstract: 

To evaluate the influence that parasites have on the losses of Apis mellifera it is essential to monitor their presence in the colonies over time. Here we analysed the occurrence of nosematids, trypanosomatids and neogregarines in five homogeneous colonies for up to 21 months until they collapsed. The study, which combined the use of several molecular markers with the application of a massive parallel sequencing technology, provided valuable insights into the epidemiology of these parasites: (I) it enabled the detection of parasite species rarely reported in honeybees (Nosema thomsoni, Crithidia bombi, Crithidia acanthocephali) and the identification of two novel taxa; (II) it revealed the existence of a high rate of co-infections (80% of the samples harboured more than one parasite species); (III) it uncovered an identical pattern of seasonal variation for nosematids and trypanosomatids, that was different from that of neogregarines; (IV) it showed that there were no significant differences in the fraction of positive samples, nor in the levels of species diversity, between interior and exterior bees; and (V) it unveiled that the variation in the number of parasite species was not directly linked with the failure of the colonies.