I believe Philip was originally recruited by CSIRO to work
on Sirex wasps in Tasmania. After that he was for many years a neighbour
of mine in Port Moresby when he was working on Screw-worm Fly there. ( I think
it was before his time that an expatriate woman had a case of Screw-worm Fly
strike in the ear, requiring the services of a physician and a vet.)
Incidentally, many pre-war residents of Moresby complained of
the post-war relative lack of bird life, attributing this to the bombing.
My own view was that it was probably the frequent deployment of the “Fogging
Machine” which on calm mornings dispensed clouds of insecticide spray
through the town. In retrospect, I suppose it must have been DDT.
I wonder whether I shall be around to see the coming War on
Insects. In the present climate I think they only rank 5th in
the list of targets, but government priorities can change, as we have seen.
From: Julian Robinson
[
Sent: Friday, 20 February 2009 5:32 PM
To: Peter Ormay;
Subject: Re: [canberrabirds] European wasps & birds - BAITS
I've just had a European Wasp nest poisoned in my wall
cavity, using the pest exterminator mentioned by Jenny and promoted by the EW
hot line. One crazed wasp full of permethrin bit me so I'm not
happy. A few points I've learned, mostly from "Mr Wasp", Dr
Philip Spradbery who runs the EW hot line...
There are possible baiting systems, but the good one relies on a chemical not
freely available, and the other (approved) one seems (to Philip) less likely to
clean up a nest since it uses fast-acting insecticide and he wonders whether
enough will get back into the nest since most or all the wasps will be killed
on the spot. (the same insecticide that was just puffed in talcum powder into
my nest).
Bait Method 1 - Fipronil in chicken mince, suitably protected from being
eaten by mammals and birds which may be injured or killed by fipronil, and
hopefully away from bees and other insects which it will definitely kill.
This is an effective slow poison and being on meat means it probably won't
attract bees etc. It is taken back to the nest before the insect dies, where it
effectively kills the rest of the nest. But Fipronil is not available in
a suitable form in Australia acc to Philip, because of controversy re Fipronil's
ability to injure and kill mammals, including us.
Bait Method 2 - a home-made contraption with liver as an attractant and
permethrin as the insecticide. This is approved, but as I said above may
not be so effective. Details are in attached image file.
European Wasp reports are double those of last year in the ACT and represent an
increasingly serious problem. No Australian government seems to be
interested in the problem and CSIRO doesn't have any resources devoted to
it. In some parts of the country eg SW Tasmania, EWs are established but
have no food except insects, so whole areas are rendered almost insect-free
(and thus nearly bird-free, maybe).
Probably some lobbying for action would be a good idea, I've written to our
Chief Minister just now.
Julian
At 05:52 PM 19/02/2009, Peter Ormay wrote:
Hello All
European Wasps are the Cane Toads of the insect world. They prey on
insect larvae and have the potential to exterminate some insect species i e
whose larvae are accessible to them like some butterfly and moth species.
They are attracted to meat, fish and sweets
including soft drinks and are a nuisance at BBQs. In parts of Melbourne
where they are abundant people think twice about having a BBQ and are advised
to use a straw to drink out of cans to avoid being stung in the mouth or
throat.
In their native Europe their nests rarely get
bigger than a grapefruit but in the ACT their nests can become more than a
metre long.
European Wasps are now widespread in the ACT and
the Snowy Mountains. Tracking them to their nest to destroy the nest is
very difficult and time-consuming. It would be much better if a bait were
available that the wasps would carry back to the nest and destroy the
colony. If someone is aware of such a bait please let me know. In
the meantime I suggest that people encourage the authorities to have such a
bait developed
Cheers
Peter
