Behavioural responses of Vespula germanica (Hymenoptera: Vespidae) wasps exposed to essential oils

Abstract

Secondary plant metabolites such as those present in essential oils can be toxic to herbivorous insects and also repel attack, given they play a role in selection and acceptance of host plants. However, few studies have dealt with the use of plant-based repellents to manage invasive wasps. The objective was to assess essential oils with potential as wasp repellents, and to gain further insight as to how they affect the learning capacities of these insects. Five essential oils were tested on Vespula germanica (Fabricius) wasps in field choice and no-choice tests. When given a choice, foragers avoided the treated baits almost completely. Wind tunnel bioassays demonstrated that wasps recognise the repellent essential oils through olfactory cues, leading to a dosedependent decreased response to the food stimulus. The effect of the repellents on the cognitive ability of V. germanica workers was also studied in relation to food search efficiency. Naive workers landed on the treated baits, although it took them longer than to land on control baits. When workers were allowed to forage on a food bait twice before a repellent was added, an effect on relocation behaviour was observed. The returning workers arriving to a feeding site with essential oil were reticent to land on it, suggesting that there is indeed a repellent effect and not just masking of the food source. A push-pull system combining attractive baits with the use of plant-based repellents is a promising management strategy in urban settings for this insect pest.

How single events can influence decision‐making in foraging Vespula germanica (Hymenoptera: Vespidae) social wasps

“…After a single wasp landed, we removed it with a handheld insect aspirator (as in Buteler et al . ), in order not to record the same wasp twice.…”

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

“…In vespid wasps, volatile molecules can induce dramatically different responses depending on their concentration and the context in which they are sensed. For instance, the ability of tea tree oil and lemongrass oil to act as yellowjacket repellents is dose-dependent, with higher concentrations producing a stronger effect [25]. The ability of essential oils to repel also depends on their proximity to the attractant source, with repellency increasing when oils are placed closer to the attractant [26].…”

Essential oils as vespid wasp repellents: Implications for their use as a management strategy

“…Available management tools are scarce including baited traps and toxic baits with fipronil (Hanna, Foote, & Kremen, ; Harris & Etheridge, ; Sackmann, Rabinovich, & Corley, ) which need to be used with caution due to its toxicity to the environment and non‐target organisms (Balança & del Visscher, ; Gunasekara & Troung, ). Recently, plant‐based repellents have been proposed as a potential alternative to classic pesticides against pest wasps, in certain scenarios (Boevé, Honraet, & Rossel, ; Buteler, Lozada, D'Adamo, Melo, & Stadler, ; Zhang, Schneidmiller, & Hoover, ). They reported the repellent effect of numerous essential oils as well as some of their synthetic constituents against yellowjackets and paper wasps (Boevé et al, ).…”

“…So far, wasp repellents have been studied in terms of the individual response of naïve wasps and captured in baited traps (Boevé et al, ; Zhang et al, ). More recently, Buteler et al () took into account the role of learning and memory mechanisms at the individual level, when analysing the repellent effect of essential oils on the relocation behaviour of V. germanica . These authors showed that the repellent effect decreases after previous experience with the food source, in the absence of the repellent odour.…”

“…Recently, plant-based repellents have been proposed as a potential alternative to classic pesticides against pest wasps, in certain scenarios (Boevé, Honraet, & Rossel, 2014;Buteler, Lozada, D'Adamo, Melo, & Stadler, 2016;Zhang, Schneidmiller, & Hoover, 2013). They reported the repellent effect of numerous essential oils as well as some of their synthetic constituents against yellowjackets and paper wasps (Boevé et al, 2014).…”