Vespa velutina: a menace for Western Iberian fruit production

Figures & data

Figure 1. Work areas of technicians who responded to the survey ‘Impact of Vespa velutina on fruit and viticulture’, in the western coast of the Iberian Peninsula, mainland Portugal and Galicia region (Spain) (a) and distribution of Vespa velutina nigrithorax in 2023 (GBIF, 2023) (b).

Table 1. Survey items.

Sections	Item	Options
(1) Technicians profile	Gender	Male
		Female
	Age	20–40
		41–60
		61–80
	Years in profession	≤05
		6–10
		11–20
		21–30
		>30
	Agricultural professional category	Agricultural warning station
		Fruit growing
		Beekeeping associations
		Other
	Work areas (district in Portugal or province in Galicia)	Open question
(2) Awareness of V. velutina presence	V. velutina at the working area	Yes
		No
		Do not know
	In what year did it arrive (possibility of response as of 2012)	Open question
	Knowledge of nest destruction	Yes
		No
		Do not know
(3) Appraisal of fruit damage	Fruit damage	Yes
		No
		Do not know
	Which fruits were damaged	Open question
	At what stage of fruit development	Pre-maturation
		Maturation
		Ripening
	Describe the damage	Open question
	Were the fruits marketed	Yes
		No
		Do not know
	Fruit damage (%)	≤05
		6–25
		26–50
		51–75
		>75
	What time of year did occur	Spring
		Summer
		Fall
		Winter
(4) Aspects to report not included in the previous questions		Open question

Table 2. Awareness of V. velutina presence or absence by all the technicians.

V. velutina in the region	Response
	Yes	No	Do not know
Portugal
Present (92)	84	3	5
Absent (6)	3	0	3
Galicia
Present (25)	25	0	0

Figure 2. Percentage of fruit types reported damaged by the technicians.

Figure 3. Damage per class fruits in percentage, reported by the technicians.

Figure 4. Vespa velutina eating table grapes and apple.

Figure 5. Percentage of technician-reported damage on fruits as a function of time.

Table 3. Major concern questions, expressed by the technicians in the open questions.

Major concern questions\categories	(1) Fruit damage	(2) Hive attacks	(3) Stings in people	(4) Control and surveillance
Stings with farmworkers			4
Beekeepers stung next to hives			1
Need for monitoring and combating traps				2
More information for monitoring				1
Sightings without knowing how to quantify the damage	1
Strong attacks on hives with destruction		3
Typology and severity of fruit injuries	9
What is considered an attack?			1
Portugal total	10	3	6	3
Difficulty in harvesting due to a lot of Asian Hornet activity			3
Increased severity over time	1
Study more effective traps model				2
Need for effective countermeasures				1
Typology and severity of fruit injuries	20
Galicia total	21	0	3	3
Western Iberian total	31	3	9	6

GBIF. (2023). Vespa velutina nigrithorax Buysson. (1905). https://www.gbif.org/species/6247411

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Data availability statement

All available data are incorporated in tables and figures within the manuscript. The datasets that were generated and/or analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author upon request.