Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2023 Jun 23;13(13):2075.
doi: 10.3390/ani13132075.

Efficacy of Protein Baits with Fipronil to Control Vespa velutina nigrithorax (Lepeletier, 1836) in Apiaries

Jesús F Barandika  1 , Omaira de la Hera  2 , Roberto Fañanás  3 , Arrate Rivas  2 , Eugenia Arroyo  3 , Rosa M Alonso  2 , M Luz Alonso  2 , Egoitz Galartza  4 , Aitor Cevidanes  1 , Ana L García-Pérez  1
Affiliations

Efficacy of Protein Baits with Fipronil to Control Vespa velutina nigrithorax (Lepeletier, 1836) in Apiaries

Jesús F Barandika et al. Animals (Basel). .

Abstract

The yellow-legged hornet (Vespa velutina nigrithorax), outside its natural range, has become a major threat to domestic bees. Several control methods have been used to fight against V. velutina, but the results achieved are not satisfactory. The use of protein baits with biocides has shown to be an effective method to control invasive wasp populations, but they have not been used to control V. velutina. Thus, the efficacy of protein baits containing fipronil to reduce the presence of hornets in apiaries was evaluated in this study. After laboratory determination of the optimal efficacy of a protein bait at a 0.01% concentration of fipronil, field trials were conducted involving 222 beekeepers. The data reported by the 90 beekeepers who completed the requested questionnaire demonstrated that in the groups of apiaries with the highest pressure of hornets (groups with 10-30 and >30 hornets), there was a significant decrease in the presence of V. velutina, lasting at least two weeks. The reduction in the number of hornets was positively correlated with bait consumption, and bait consumption was positively correlated with the number of hornets present at the time of treatment. Although the method used has shown good efficacy and the concentration of fipronil used was very low; possible negative effects on the environment should also be evaluated.

Keywords: Vespa velutina; beekeeping; control; fipronil; protein baits.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The co-authors RF and EA are employees of D+S-OABE company that partially participated in experiments (elaborating the protein baits) but there is no commercial interest in this collaboration. The other authors declare no competing interests. The funders had no role in the design of the study; in the collection, analyses, or interpretation of data; in the writing of the manuscript; or in the decision to publish the results.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Color changes observed in the Vespa velutina larvae (A), and aspect of swollen larva in comparison with control larva (B,C) within 48 h after feeding with fipronil.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Counts of hornets in front of the hives on the day of treatment (A) and the amount of bait consumed in each apiary (B) over the three months in which the trials were carried out. The black dots represent the mean. Orange and blue dots represent individual observations.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Overall mean evolution of the number of hornets during the field trial [*, p < 0.05].
Figure 4
Figure 4
Correlation between the number of hornets in the apiaries and the bait consumed on Day 0 (A). Correlation between the bait consumption on Day 0 and the percentage of reduction (RE%) on days +2 (B), +7 (C) and +14 (D) post-baiting; R = Spearman’s rank correlation rho. The shaded area corresponds to the 95% confidence interval of the regression line (in blue).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Bertelsmeier C. Globalization and the anthropogenic spread of invasive social insects. Curr. Opin. Insect Sci. 2021;46:16–23. doi: 10.1016/j.cois.2021.01.006. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Keller R.P., Geist J., Jeschke J.M., Kühn I. Invasive species in Europe: Ecology, status, and policy. Environ. Sci. Eur. 2011;23:23. doi: 10.1186/2190-4715-23-23. - DOI
    1. Puebla H., Roy P.K., Velasco-Perez A., Gonzalez-Brambila M.M. Biological pest control using a model-based robust feedback. IET Syst. Biol. 2018;12:233–240. doi: 10.1049/iet-syb.2018.5010. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Lowe S., Browne M., Boudjelas S., De Poorter M. 100 of the World’s Worst Invasive Alien Species. 2020. [(accessed on 12 June 2023)]. Available online: https://portals.iucn.org/library/sites/library/files/documents/2000-126-....
    1. Haxaire J., Bouguet J., Tamisier J.P. Vespa velutina Lepeletier, 1836, une redoutable nouveauté pour la faune de France et d’Europe (Hym., Vespidae) Bull. Société Entomol. Fr. 2006;111:194. doi: 10.3406/bsef.2006.16309. - DOI

LinkOut - more resources