[ad_1]
The war against wasps in the upper part of the South Island is intensifying.
Introduced European wasps are a major problem in New Zealand beech forests. Could a genetic drive be a way to get rid of them?
Photo: CC BY 2.0 Sid Mosdell / Flickr
The Tasmania District Council wants to release two new organisms to New Zealand, as a further step in the biological warfare against stinging insects that cost New Zealand up to $ 130 million each year in damage and in managing their populations.
The council, on behalf of the Vespula Biocontrol Action Group, has petitioned the Environmental Protection Authority for the release of the wasp nest beetle, Metoecus paradoxus, and a hoverfly, Volucella inanis.
The task force consisted of members from the forestry, conservation, beekeeping, recreation and council sectors who received sustainable agriculture funding from the Ministry of Primary Industries to continue exploring wasp control options.
Tasman’s biodiversity monitoring team chief Rob Smith said he recognized the extent of the problem in the upper South Island, although wasp control was a national challenge.
“From a biodiversity point of view, or from an economic point of view or just from a enjoy-your-jam-on-the-lake point of view, it would be huge if we could make a little a dent in the wasp population. “
Manaaki Whenua – Landcare Research said that the beech forests in the upper part of the South Island had the highest densities of wasps in the world.
The council said the wasp population poses a significant threat to primary industries and conservation, affecting biodiversity and the food supply for native insects, birds and lizards.
Wasps attacked bees, butterflies, flies and spiders and could be harmful to people, sometimes seriously.
Smith said there was a period in the wasps’ life cycle when they ate protein and then “nailed” vulnerable and iconic invertebrate species like butterflies.
Wasps also stole from other species, such as nectar-eating birds, the important honeydew from beech trees.
“It’s a big problem and the council is hosting this group (biocontrol task force), which led to this request to the EPA.”
Smith said that biological control of wasps was not a new concept in New Zealand. It involved the use of a “parasitoid”, an organism that had offspring that could develop on or within another organism (the host), and eventually kill it.
The parasitoids had characteristics of both predators and parasites.
In 2016, a parasitic wasp was considered the latest weapon in the war against the common invasive wasp.
“For the vespula (common) wasps, an agent was brought in a while ago, but to be really precise or specific, the parasite and the predator must be from the same place.
“Even though these are European wasps, the fact that the host and the predator came from slightly different geographic locations means they didn’t exactly match well.”
Smith said the previous parasitic wasp still existed, but in small numbers. He said the predator species they hoped to introduce came from the same geographic location as the host wasps.
“That way they are practically invisible to wasps.”
He said the predators operated in the shadows and were not detected by the wasps, which could be a significant advance in their control.
“Fingers crossed, the application submitted has this in mind and hopefully a game changer for us.”
The council says that biological control agents were a sustainable option for reaching out-of-range wasp populations.
He said the pesticides in use now are expensive, time consuming, potentially dangerous and limited in their effectiveness when infestations are hard to find.
The Tasmania District Council was one of the regional councils that formed part of the National Biocontrol Collective and supported the development of biological control agents for widespread pests.
Some examples of biological control used in the Tasmania region for plants were: broom (broom leaf beetle and broom seed beetle), ragwort (cinnabar moth and ragwort flea beetle) ), nodding thistle (receptacle weevil and chicken coop fly).
Public comment on the council’s request to the EPA is open until Tuesday night.
Wasp’s nest beetle
Photo: Pinterest
