Enhanced Trapping of Yellowjacket Wasps (Hymenoptera: Vespidae) via Spatial Partitioning of Attractants

Abstract

Several yellowjacket species are important pests in both their native habitat and in areas where they are invasive. Traps that contain one or more chemical attractants to lure insects inside are commonly used to combat these yellowjackets in urban environments. Usually, attractants are placed within the trap and combined indiscriminately, though little is known about how this design influences trap attractiveness or efficacy. Here, using the common attractant heptyl butyrate in combination with chicken extract, we demonstrate that spatial partitioning of attractants results in increased capture of the western yellowjacket Vespula pensylvanica—a widespread pestiferous species. Specifically, we show that partitioning of these attractants results in increased visitation of yellowjackets to a trap while also leading to more individuals entering the trap. Further, we provide evidence that this effect is driven by the ability of heptyl butyrate to function as an attractant to the general location of the trap while also blocking the effects of meat extract as a trap-entering stimulus. Thus, our data challenge the current paradigm of combining attractants inside yellowjacket traps, and suggest that these methods can be improved through the consideration of spatial variables and interactions. Our results not only provide novel insight into the mechanisms of yellowjacket attraction, but are also likely to be applicable to the control of other insects for which attractant-based traps are used.

Volatile profile of Calycanthus occidentalis achenes and evidence for a diverse range of semiochemicals for vespicochory by pestiferous Vespula pensylvanica

“…This dichotomy of class and compound semiochemical behavior was also indirectly noted in the pyrazine class of compounds, which as reported in Table 2 were amongst the most highly emitted compounds from C. occidentalis achenes. Literature regarding V. pensylvanica attraction to cooked meat is abundant, and cooked meat is known to be a source of proteins [3,19,20]. Interestingly, it is also known in the literature that pyrazines (and aldehydes) are commonly found in the headspace of cooked meats [27,28].…”

“…Other semiochemicals of vespids are well documented and include commercially available traps (e.g., Rescue! ® ) containing heptyl butyrate [15,16], kairomones from insect-produced honeydew [17], fungal-produced volatiles [18], odors from cooked meats [19], and combining heptyl butyrate with chicken extract [20], among others. Longchain cuticular hydrocarbons similar to those extracted from elaiosomes [14] have also been extracted from the bodies of species of yellowjackets, including V. pensylvanica [21].…”

Attraction of the Invasive Hornet, Vespa velutina nigrithorax, by using Bacillus sp. BV‐1 Cultures

“…Techniques introduced to fight hornets include toxic bait (Harris and Etheridge, 2001), mites (Gerson et al, 2003), entomopathogenic fungi (Poidatz et al, 2018), parasitoids (Darrouzet et al, 2015), and bait traps (Liang and Pietri, 2017). Of these, bait-trap methods are typically used because they are simple and inexpensive.…”