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NEW ZEALAND BEEKEEPER, FEBRUARY 2017
Dr Ronny Groenteman, Biocontrol Scientist Landcare Research/Manaaki Whenua, Lincoln E-mail: groentemanr@landcareresearch.co.nz WASP BIOCONTROL UPDATE PEST AND DISEASE CONTROL
Bob Brown returned from the UK with chilly bins full of wasp combs, and excitement is building up.
Morgan Coleman and Bob Brown about to set off on a three-hour wasp collecting tour on small islands. Photo: Morgan Coleman.
Early in September 2016, Bob left for the United Kingdom, tasked with the mission to collect new genetic stock of the parasitic wasp Specophaga vesparum from the same geographic range our common wasps come from. Soon after landing he was able to locate a good number of nests, and the idea was for him to come back to dig these nests up when he was later joined by Morgan Coleman, a wasp- skilled field assistant. When Morgan arrived and the two returned to the nests Bob had pre-marked, they were astonished to discover someone had beaten them to many of the nests—badgers! It turns out these mustelids are pretty effective nest excavators. (Maybe we can domesticate one as a field assistant?, says Bob with hope). Other adventures included rowing out to small islands infested with wasps at the National Trust-managed Petworth House and Park, removing a European hornet (Vespa crabro) nest from a bird house in the New Forest, excavating nests very near to a ‘house’ surrounded by a moat called Oxburgh Hall (another National Trust site), and waiting for a break in traffic at a crosswalk in full wasp suit carrying two boxes of nests at Morden Hall Park. While we are very grateful to the National Trust for enthusiastically locating nests for us to survey, there was some hesitation before each excavation because of our concern that we may inadvertently damage some unknown archaeological treasure that no one had warned us about. Nevertheless, the two were able to dig out a good number of nests, and found plenty of reasons to be optimistic about what the future holds for wasp biocontrol. Aside from Sphecophaga , they found larvae of the hoverfly Volucella inanis, the beetle Metoecus paradoxus, and mites that look incredibly similar to the recently described Pneumolaelaps niutirani. We still have to run a DNA test to find out if they are the same thing. So, while this trip was about importing Sphecophaga, Bob has a good head start for the next project if the new Sustainable Farming Fund (SFF) application turns out to be successful.
Bob successfully crossing a road in London without dropping the wasp nests! Photo: Morgan Coleman.
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