
New Lure Attracts Worst
Yellowjacket Pests By Kathryn Barry
Stelljes November 10, 1998LAS VEGAS, Nev., Nov. 10--The first effective lure for the golden
paper wasp, the European hornet and some of the nations peskiest
yellowjacket species has been developed at the
Agricultural Research Service. ARS is
the chief research agency of the U.S. Department
of Agriculture. Yellowjackets and wasps can be dangerous to workers in fruit orchards
during picking season as well as around homes and other public places,
said Peter J. Landolt, the ARS entomologist who developed the lure. As with
bees, yellowjacket and wasp stings can cause a potentially dangerous allergic
reaction in some people. The attractant, said Landolt, could provide a means of monitoring and
controlling the insects. He is scheduled to present results of his tests with
the lure today at the Entomological
Society of Americas annual meeting in Las Vegas. Sterling International, Inc.,
of Veradale, Wash., is working with Landolt under a Cooperative Research and
Development Agreement to develop the best delivery system for the attractant.
Landolt estimates that traps with these lures could be available commercially
in about a year. He works at the ARS Yakima Agricultural Research
Station in Wapato, Wash. The new lure uses compounds created by bacteria and fungi as byproducts of
consuming sugar. These chemicals create an odor desirable to yellowjackets, at
least one species of paper wasp and a hornet. ARS has applied for a patent on
the lure (application no. 09/041,056). Sugar or meat-based baits are effective, but have drawbacks,
Landolt said. Sugar-based baits also attract beneficial species such as
honeybees, and meat rots too quickly to be practical. Of the 17 yellowjacket species in the U.S., five are considered to be
significant, aggressive pests. Existing synthetic lures attract only one of
these species. Landolts lure is the first to attract most of them,
including the German yellowjacket. It is also the first chemical lure to
attract any species of paper wasp. Aggressive German yellowjackets were first found in the U.S.--in eastern
states-- about two decades ago. But theyve been found in Washington and
California only since the 1980s. They cause real problems
seasonally when they nest and feed in fruit orchards, Landolt said. Scientific contact: Peter J. Landolt, ARS Yakima Agricultural
Research Laboratory, Wapato, Wash., phone (509) 454-6551, fax (509) 454-5646,
[email protected] U.S. Department of Agriculture | |