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ARS Home » Pacific West Area » Wapato, Washington » Temperate Tree Fruit and Vegetable Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #177886

Title: YELLOWJACKET WASPS (HYMENOPTERA: VESPIDAE) TRAPPED IN ALASKA WITH HEPTYL BUTYRATE, ACETIC ACID AND ISOBUTANOL

Author
item Landolt, Peter
item Pantoja, Alberto
item Green, Daryl

Submitted to: Journal of British Columbia Entomological Society
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 11/1/2005
Publication Date: 12/15/2005
Citation: Landolt, P.J., Pantoja, A., Green, D.L. 2005. Yellowjacket wasps (Hymenoptera: Vespidae) trapped in Alaska with heptyl butyrate, acetic acid and isobutanol. J. Entomol. Soc. Brit. Columbia. 102:35-42.

Interpretive Summary: New methods and approaches are needed to control insect pests of fruit crops and stinging wasps can be a hazard to pickers when fruit is ripe. Researchers at the USDA-ARS laboratories in Wapato, Washington and Fairbanks, Alaska studied the use of feeding attractants for trapping yellowjackets, as a means of detection and monitoring. It was found that 8 species of yellowjackets could be trapped in agricultural areas of Alaska, including the two species that are most abundant and pestiferous. The seasonal abundance of these wasps was determined and their response to different attractants was compared. The most pestiferous species were best captured in traps baited with acetic acid with isobutanol. These findings will help design recommendations for both monitoring and detection efforts to determine the abundance of pest species, and strategies to reduce yellowjacket populations through trapping.

Technical Abstract: Eight species of vespid wasps were captured in traps near Fairbanks, Delta Junction and Palmer, Alaska, during 2003 and 2004. These were Vespula vulgaris, Vespula acadica, Vespula consobrina, Vespula intermedia, Dolichovespula maculata, Dolichovespula arenaria, Dolichovespula albida, and Dolichovespula norwegicoides. Workers and males of V. vulgaris were captured primarily in traps baited with the combination of acetic acid and isobutanol. Workers of V. acadica, V. consobrina, and V. intermedia were captured primarily in traps baited with heptyl butyrate. Queens and workers of D. maculata were captured primarily in traps baited with acetic acid, or acetic acid with isobutanol. The small numbers of D. arenaria, D. norwegicoides, and D. albida captured did not permit treatment comparisons. Season-long trapping indicated a presence of V. acadica, V. consobrina, and V. intermedia workers from late June through July, D. maculata from early July into early August, and V. vulgaris from late July to early September. The earliest wasps captured were queens of V. vulgaris and D. maculata in late May, while the latest wasp captured was a worker of V. vulgaris the first week of October, in Palmer.