Wood G M, Hopkins D C, Schellhorn N A
South Australian Research and Development Institute, Entomology Unit, Adelaide.
J Econ Entomol. 2006 Apr;99(2):263-7. doi: 10.1603/0022-0493-99.2.263.
The German yellowjacket, Vespula germanica (F.) (Hymenoptera: Vespidae), was introduced into Australia in 1959 and has established throughout southern Australia. In urban environments, V. germanica is frequently a nuisance pest at public gatherings and to homeowners. In native environments, it has the potential to pose a threat to native invertebrates. The current practice for controlling the wasps is nest destruction with pesticide. However, locating the nest(s) is not always practical or possible. Meat baits impregnated with an insecticide that foraging wasps cut and carry back to the nest offer a means of suppressing wasps where the nest sites are unknown. The success of meat baits depends on the attractiveness and acceptance of the meat to the wasp and the mode of action of the insecticide. Our objective was to determine wasp preference and acceptance of five processed meats: canned chicken or fish and freeze-dried chicken, fish, or kangaroo. We found that more wasps visited and took freeze-dried kangaroo and canned chicken than the other baits. Canned and freeze-dried fish were similarly preferred, and freeze-dried chicken was the least attractive and accepted by foraging wasps. Our findings demonstrate that wasps prefer some processed meats and hence take more loads back to the nest. By combining a suitable insecticide with a meat bait preferred by wasps, the likelihood of effective suppression of nuisance wasp populations should be increased.
德国黄胡蜂（Vespula germanica (F.)，膜翅目：胡蜂科）于1959年被引入澳大利亚，并已在澳大利亚南部广泛分布。在城市环境中，德国黄胡蜂常常在公共集会场合给人们带来困扰，也给家庭住户造成麻烦。在原生环境中，它有可能对本地无脊椎动物构成威胁。目前控制这些黄蜂的方法是用杀虫剂摧毁蜂巢。然而，找到蜂巢并不总是可行或实际的。用杀虫剂浸渍的肉饵，让觅食的黄蜂切割并带回蜂巢，为在蜂巢位置不明的情况下抑制黄蜂提供了一种手段。肉饵的效果取决于肉对黄蜂的吸引力和可接受性以及杀虫剂的作用方式。我们的目标是确定黄蜂对五种加工肉类的偏好和接受程度：罐装鸡肉或鱼肉以及冻干鸡肉、鱼肉或袋鼠肉。我们发现，比起其他诱饵，更多的黄蜂光顾并取食冻干袋鼠肉和罐装鸡肉。罐装和冻干鱼肉同样受到青睐，而冻干鸡肉对觅食黄蜂的吸引力最小且最不被接受。我们的研究结果表明，黄蜂更喜欢某些加工肉类，因此会带回更多食物回巢。通过将合适的杀虫剂与黄蜂偏爱的肉饵相结合，有效抑制黄蜂种群数量的可能性应该会增加。
