In 2019, giant Asian hornets — known to the public as killer wasps — made their first appearance in the United States while the Washington State Department of Agriculture identified and exterminated three invasive species nests in 2021 in hopes of eradicating them, and there remains some concern that hornets are still Found. Now, however, researchers may have found a new way to combat it. According to a new study published in the journal current biologyMale giant hornets can be lured into traps using sex pheromones.
At the University of California San Diego, a team led by James Neh, associate dean in the school’s Department of Biological Sciences, created a series of traps that use sex pheromones to attract male wasps. According to the study, the researchers used a mixture of synthetic pheromones along with the natural sex pheromone from female giant hornets and tested them near hornet colonies in China’s Yunnan Province. The study found that synthetic pheromone paired with a female hornet was more than 16 times more effective than traps without pheromones. According to the study, scientists caught thousands of wasps in one day using traps.
However, while traps work, there are some limitations. Traps work only on male wasps, but female wasps can still form colonies if they have already mated, which is something that Allen Gibbs, a professor in the University of Nevada’s Department of Life Sciences, said in Las Vegas. CNN. Gibbs was not involved in the study.
“This method attracts males, but if they have already mated, the females are free to fly and start a new colony,” he said. Gibbs also noted that killer wasps only mate for a very limited amount of time in the fall which makes the trap system time-sensitive.
So far, it is not known whether more killing hornets will be found in the United States in 2022. Washington state officials hope that work in 2021 to locate and destroy their nests will have wiped out the hornets here, although scientists will not They’ve known that for several months. Previous nests were discovered in the fall of the year – in August in September of 2021 and towards the end of October in 2020. So far, all the nests have been found in one area east of Blaine, Washington and officials hope the insects haven’t spread, though they ask people Continue to monitor and report what they see.
“We’ve found that people, just keep their eyes open and tell us that they watch, you know, get a picture of what they’re seeing and send it to us, that’s actually more effective than trapping us,” Carla Salpe, a public engagement specialist told WSDA Portland KOIN.
What do you think of the latest developments in stopping killing hornets? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section!
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