European wasps & birds - BAITS [SEC=UNCLASSIFIED]

["Perkins, Harvey" <>]

I was stung on the thigh by a European Wasp while riding the motorbike near the Civic Pool last Tuesday.

 

An interesting, if painful, coincidence as Phil Spradbery and I had been guests on 2XX's Fuzzy Logic science program on 11 January. It was the first time I'd seen Phil since we were both still at CSIRO Entomology 18 years ago. We talked about European Wasps, sheep blowflies, screw-worm flies and other pest insect, pest animal, and general science matters.

 

But that's neither here nor there, apart from in the context that European Wasps have suddenly emerged as a hot local topic.

 

I think that wasps are potentially a bigger threat than Common Mynas and, given the lack of any government commitment to their control, perhaps a community-led action group along the lines of CIMAG should be established.

 

Harvey Perkins
CRC Strategy and Communication Section
_______________________________________
Department of Innovation, Industry, Science and Research

 

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From: Geoffrey Dabb [
Sent: Friday, 20 February 2009 6:28 PM
To: 'Julian Robinson'; 'Peter Ormay';
Subject: RE: [canberrabirds] European wasps & birds - BAITS

 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 5^th 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