The spread of the social wasp,Vespula germanica, in Australia

ESTABLISHMENT AND SPREAD OFVESPULA GERMANICA(F.) (HYMENOPTERA: VESPIDAE) IN NEW SOUTH WALES AND THE INFLUENCE OF RAINFALL ON ITS ABUNDANCE

“…The primary mode of dispersal of this species over large distances is believed to be via accidental vehicular transportation of hibernating mated queens (Spradbery 1988). This may explain the sudden appearance of nests in Griffith and Narrandera in 1982-83, which were probably founded by queens transported from Sydney, or from the widespread infestation present in Victoria at that time (Crosland 1991).…”

“…Furthermore, the near vertical increase in the area infested by V. germanica between seasons 1982-83 and 1984-85 greatly exceeded the dispersal capacity of foundress queens. This was estimated at about 1 km by Crosland (1991).…”

“…In the Pacific North-West of America, the interaction of spring rainfall with low temperatures is believed to suppress wasp numbers by killing young nests (Akre and Reed 1981). In Australia, V. germanica builds a greater proportion of nests in buildings than in Europe (Crosland 1991), thereby reducing their susceptibility to flooding. The warmer temperatures experienced in the SMA compared with the Pacific North-West (Russell and Coupe 1984) would also prevent excessive chilling of wasps caused by the combination of low temperatures and precipitation.…”

Ecological effects and management of invasive alien Vespidae

“…The triangle indicates the locality where wasps were first detected in Argentina (Masciocchi unpub. data) Ecological effects and management of invasive alien Vespidae 513 hundred meters from their nests (Crosland 1991), so spread in South America is probably predominantly related to human transportation. This is consistent with the significant genetic structure found among distant populations of this species within Australia where spread appears to occur sporadically causing a series of genetic bottlenecks (Goodisman et al 2001).…”

Changes in the distribution and proportions ofVespula vulgaris(L.) andVespula germanica(Fab.) (Hymenoptera: Vespidae) between 1987 and 1990 in New Zealand

“…The common wasp has established more recently (Donovan 1983(Donovan , 1984Clapperton et al 1989c). Although it was widespread throughout New Zealand by 1987, it was then concentrated in urban habitats where its rapid colonisation was probably the result of human-assisted dispersal (Clapperton et al 1989c;Crossland 1991). Common wasps were also abundant in the honeydew beech forests of the South Island in 1987 (Sandlant & Moller 1989), and had almost displaced the German wasp in some forests (Plunkett et al 1989;Harris et al 1991).…”