Color preference of social wasps to non-toxic traps

Abstract

Social wasps are significant pests of bees and other sectors of agriculture and are also insects of health interest importance. They are eusocial, because of the overlapping of generations; they care cooperatively the brood and show reproductive caste differentiation. The purpose of this study was to improve the effectiveness of the colored hive-type traps and find the color that removes the greater number of wasps. Two sets of three hive-type traps in pink, yellow and white color were placed next to two apiaries consisting of 30 colonies each on the campus of the Agricultural University of Athens. Fish canned cat food was used as bait. Once a week the wasp samples were collected and stored in the freezer, while the protein bait was replaced and there was a circular rotation of the colored traps. Vespa orientalis samples were collected at a rate of 75%, Vespula germanica at a rate of 22%, and Polistes spp. at a rate of 3%. The pink color was the most attractive, followed by yellow and white. The average weekly number of trappings per month of V. orientalis and Polistes spp. was high in July and August, favored by high temperatures, low precipitation, and low atmospheric humidity, while V. germanica was trapped more in November. Although color hive-type traps are promising for wasp control, further research is suggested.

Keywords:

• Social wasps
• color preference; Vespa orientalis
• Vespula germanica
• Polistes spp.
• non-toxic trap

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This study was supported by the National Apicultural Programmes for Beekeeping during the period 2014–2016 in the field “Implementation of applied research” with the title “Study of the effects of wasps on bees and how to control them.”