wasp Archives - usatoday24

The wasp that hunts bees to feed its young is already present throughout Andalusia, and it is not the only one

July 25, 2026 by usatoday24

Andalusia, land of (invasive) wasps. As if the fearsome asian wasp (vespa velutina) and the bicolor hornet (Vespa bicolor), the eastern hornet joins the triad (Vespa orientalis) as the CSIC explains and it has done so in record time: it did not take even six to colonize the eight provinces of the community since its first detection in Algeciras and has already been seen in the Valencia area and on the central plateau. He is reddish, with a yellow face and has a voracious hunger for bees. The question is not whether the eastern hornet is here to stay, but how far it can go. Habemus new wasp. This invasive wasp native to South Asia, the Middle East and North Africa has been colonizing southern Europe for the last few decades. The first sighting of the eastern hornet dates back to 2018 in Algeciras and since then has settled in urban and agricultural areas throughout Andalusia, although the provinces of Cádiz, Málaga, Seville and Córdoba are the most affected. The Junta de Andalucía estimates the growth in records between 2023 and 2024 at 30% and it does not seem that it will stop there: an analysis with data from 2024 counted 695 sightings of the species in Spain as a whole. As explains the researcher at the Doñana Biological Station – CSIC Jairo Robla“they are resistant and very competitive species, capable of dealing with everything” and the success of their expansion lies in their great capacity to adapt to new ecosystems. The habits ofthe eastern hornet. In Córdoba there is a surveillance program that documents the annual biological cycle of the species: appearance of founding queens in mid-March, first workers in June and end of the cycle around November, with nests usually installed in holes in human buildings. From there the colony grows until summer and autumn, which is when there are more wasps. In November the colony almost entirely dies. This is an omnivorous and opportunistic species: first the queen feeds on plant sources such as flowers or molasses and also hunts other insects such as flies, bees, birds or butterflies, to provide protein for her larvae. Hives are a real feast: an easy way to feed your young. How to distinguish it from the European wasp. The simplest way is the color: the eastern hornet has a reddish-copper body with two wide yellow stripes on the abdomen, each with two black dots. On the face, a characteristic yellow spot. It measures between 25 and 35 millimeters. The European hornet (Vespa crabro), the only native species of the genus in Spain, is somewhat larger (queens reach 4 centimeters), has a brown thorax and a yellow abdomen with black stripes more marked than that of the eastern one. Another way to differentiate them is where they nest: while the European hornet usually settles in trees, slopes or natural cavities, the eastern one has a predilection for urban environments, nesting in gaps in facades, blind boxes, roofs or walls, as documented by the IAS-CSIC monitoring in Córdoba. In case of doubt, the IAS-CSIC research team recommends not intervening and contacting the competent municipal services. Early detection of founding queens is essential: eliminating them at this stage prevents the formation of large colonies. In detail. The map of the expansion prepared by Robla’s team shows a progressive advance from the initial focus in Cádiz towards the interior and south of Andalusia, with Córdoba as one of the provinces where new detections have been recorded in recent years. By the end of 2024, the eastern hornet was already established in all provinces, with doubts only about its definitive establishment in Granada. To prepare them, they use photos and videos that people upload to platforms such as Observation.org or iNaturalist and subsequent validation by the research team, which allows them to cover a much broader territory. Map A shows the spread of the oriental hornet (Vespa orientalis). The colors indicate the year of registration: until 2021 (black), 2022 (blue), 2023 (green) and 2024 (red). Why is it important. That oriental hornets feed on honey bees and other pollinators is a real ecological and economic problem, as warns Robla for Canal Sur: When the density of hornets is high, damage to hives and the biodiversity of nearby areas can be serious. Selective predation on pollinators can have a cascading effect on agriculture, since crop pollination is reduced, and on beekeeping, a relevant economic sector in Andalusia. In Xataka | From pest in Southern Spain to “super food” for fish: we already know what to do with 60,000 tons of invasive Asian algae In Xataka | The Ebro is filling with brown prawns, an invasive species that we are going to find more and more on our plates. Cover | Gideon Pisanty and Buzzworthy invasions: new data on alien Vespa (Hymenoptera, Vespidae) hornets in southern Spain

We have filled Europe with traps to combat the terrible Asian wasp. It was a bad idea

October 12, 2025 by usatoday24

That non-endemic species reach new territories It’s a colossal problem. It is estimated that more than half of contemporary extinctions They are the fault of invaders and there are examples of kicks (reaching the Arctic due to climate change). He coypu or the blue crab They are two of those invasive animals, but if we share something in Europe it is the “fear” of Asian wasps: a ‘bug’ that we have been fighting for 20 years and against which we are losing miserably. And the big problem is that we are killing flies with cannon shots. vespa velutina. About three centimeters long, this wasp came to Europe at the beginning of the century. Supposedly, he did so aboard a cargo ship from China, landing on the French coast and, since then, colonizing other territories. In 2010 the species spread to Spain, entering from the Basque Country, colonizing the Cantabrian coast and arriving in Galiciabut it has also expanded to Portugal, Germany and even the United Kingdom. It is already well established and, although it is true that it is not more aggressive than “our” wasp, when it gets angry and stings it can cause serious allergic reactions, causing occasional deaths. The worst thing is that it continues to expand at a rate of about 80 kilometers of territory gained each year. Invaders. It’s no longer that they can bother us, but rather that, as an invasive species, they do what they do best: destroy the native ones. And not with other wasps, but with bees. The Asian wasp is a predator of other insects, but has a predilection for honey bees. It attacks their hives indiscriminately, causing enormous damage to beekeeping. At a time when awareness about importance of bees in naturebeyond for him human consumption of honeythere are those who take matters into their own hands and have started setting traps. It moves fast Flies with cannon shots. There are several types. On the one hand, the most homemade: the typical upside-down bottle that we fill with mixtures attractive to wasps (juices, wines, fruits and sugar), creating a sticky paste in which the wasp becomes trapped. There are others that are more sophisticated and selective, with large holes for wasps to enter, but with release mechanisms for smaller animals and pheromones that attract insects. The problem is that they are remedies that can do more harm than anything else because, although commercial traps have release mechanisms for accidentally captured insects, you have to be careful and, basically, it is killing flies with cannon fire. Those who do not have to fall fall. And the main criticism is precisely that: the traps do not discriminate and damage is created to biodiversity because many insects that are not the Asian wasp are killed. Among them are moths, beetles, flies, bees and an ally that fights against the Asian invader: the European hornet. In a recent investigation published Pest Management Science has analyzed how in Galician vineyards, traps against Vespa velutina have turned out to be ineffective in controlling the damage that the insect does to grapes, but although Asian wasps are trapped, other species that have an important role in pollination are also captured. Solutions? The request of the researchers is that the Galician administration, promoter of this massive trapping, takes a step back because what is produced is a false idea of effectiveness due to general captures, but without implying that the objective, which is to stop the Asian wasp, is met. What do they propose? That this elimination technique be reconsidered and look at the scientific evidence, since “environmental problems are complex and can rarely be solved with quick and easy solutions.” It is not a solution as such to the damage that these invasive wasps can cause, but it is to put an end to the indiscriminate killing of other insects that do a job in our ecosystem. What is evident is that, as we mentioned a few paragraphs ago, for a kind of outsider to arrive and establish itself so quickly in a territory is something devastating. And the Asian wasp is a perfect example. Images | Clame Reporter, Didier Descouens In Xataka | After centuries of disappearance, there are people releasing beavers into the Tagus and other rivers in Spain. The problem is that we don’t know who

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