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Waspwatcher Program Bio-Surveillance for Invasive Beetles Using Native Wasps

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Waspwatcher Program Bio-Surveillance for Invasive Beetles Using Native Wasps Louisiana WaspWatcher Program Bio-surveillance for invasive beetles using native wasps The Problem Invasive species arrive in our communities often without any warning, settle in for long destructive stays, and are hard to dislodge. Think of Dutch elm disease, water hyacinth, water lettuce, zebra mussels, and now emerald ash borer. Successful management of any introduced pest depends on early detection... forewarned is forearmed! An initiative to get a jump on this most recent pest is the new ‘WaspWatcher’ program used to spot new infestations of the emerald ash borer beetle before it can establish itself as a serious pest. Emerald Ash Borer The beetles are virtually undetectable ...at least until it is too late. Larvae feed beneath the bark of our native ash trees and only emerge as adults (high in the tree's canopy) during summer. The larval feeding eventually girdles and kills our ash trees. A Solution A native ground-nesting wasp, Cerceris fumipennis (pronounced sir-sir-us fum-a- pen-us), is providing a handy solution to our beetle detection problem. This wasp will prey on the adult emerald ash borers (as well as related native beetles, called buprestids) and carry them, paralyzed, back to its burrow. The paralyzed beetle is then stored underground as food for the wasp's larva. Cerceris with buprestid beetle YOU CAN BE A WASP WATCHER! Once nests are located in your vicinity you can watch the wasps as they return to their nests with prey. You can capture and send us what beetles are being collected. The wasp will not sting humans, even when handled. So, provided we find the needed nests, Cerceris is now a valuable colleague in the search for pest beetles. There is a broader implication of this wasp watching. Volunteers do feeder watches, Audubon bird Cerceris with beetle counts, and butterfly monitoring and use these as indicator species to assess the "health" of the environment. Once found, Cerceris colonies can serve as an early-warning system not only on the destructive emerald ash borer but also provide an inventory of other beetles are in the area. Should one subsequently be declared a pest, we’ll know where they can be found. Forewarned is forearmed! What are you watching for? Cerceris fumipennis is distinguished by five conspicuous characteristics: It is large, about the size of common yellowjacket wasps. It has dark smoky, blue/black wings (i.e. fumipennis). The wasp’s body is predominantly black except for a few yellow markings. It has a conspicuous, single broad creamy yellow abdominal band Female Cerceris, note yellow band on abdomen (red arrow) (red arrow). Females have three creamy yellow patches between the eyes. Males are marked with two yellow triangles abutting their eyes. Female: three yellow patches on face. Male: two yellow patches on face. Cerceris is a solitary ground-nesting wasp. Each lone female constructs and attempts to maintain a single subterranean nest for the duration of the flight season. Her solitary nest is in close proximity to others, forming a neighborhood or informal colony of nests. The nest’s entrance is easily visible, marked by a small circular mound of earth. This hole leads into a vertical, pen- sized burrow that descends for about 1.5 inches (3 cm) before bending to a 45 degree angle and continuing downwards for a further 4 inches (9 cm), at which point it levels out and becomes clogged with a loose sand plug. Brood cells with one pupa and paralyzed beetles as food per cell are constructed off this central tunnel. Cerceris nest entrance. Note size of hole and surrounding circular mound of dirt. When are the wasps out? a) season In Louisiana the flight season when adults maintain burrows and collect beetles is from May through June with some activity in early July. The larva cocoons are likely watertight in order to survive extreme dry or wet periods over winter. New adults emerge the next year in late April. The 3–5 week May through early June period is when most buprestids are collected The best times to collect are May and early June. Some Cerceris can be and most brood cells are found in late June and early July. provisioned, although daily success varies. The colony is relatively stable during this period but the fate of individual nests remains uncertain. Some nest entrances collapse, shutting out their owners. Other nests are suddenly abandoned, either because the owner left to establish a new nest elsewhere or perished while foraging. A few new nests do appear during this period but the trend is a continual decrease in the number of active nests. We refer to this decline in the number of active nests as ‘colony decay’. By mid-July colony decay reduces the number of active nests per site to one quarter of the number present during the first week of May. The remaining nests are often widely spaced but well maintained. The female wasps continue to complete foraging flights, but this period is marked by a change in the duration of foraging flights with a few very long flights and many short trips. In addition, the number of beetles collected per day is significantly reduced. Early August is the final stage in Cerceris' flight season. For the handful of female wasps still alive, provisioning has ceased. With ragged wings and sluggish movements the wasps begin to backfill their burrows although neglected burrows quickly collapse on their own. Wind, rain and human activity can seal up an un-maintained burrow in two or three days; yet the remaining wasps seem driven to backfill their nests, possibly to conceal their nest. b) daily Wasp activity increases tenfold once the colony is struck by direct sunlight. Cerceris colonies are normally located in open areas with exposure to full sun. The data indicates that most foraging flights (successful or unsuccessful) are completed between 11:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. The variables that influence wasp’s activity such as soil temperature and sunlight appear optimal during this period. Efficient biosurveillance work at a Cerceris colony would require the human observer to be at the colony between 11 a.m. and 5 p.m., as this would be when wasps are most likely to return with prey Best time to collect beetles: 11 am – 5 pm. from a foraging flight. An individual wasp completes approximately 4 flights each day (maximum of 14 flights per day) an average of 2 of which result in prey procurement (maximum of 9 successful flights per day). Cerceris are more successful at finding prey on some days than others. The wasp’s foraging success may be influenced by the availability of buprestid prey as well as weather conditions. As is the case for many digger wasps, Cerceris does not actively forage during rainy weather. Most foraging wasps return to their nests moments before large storms arrive. Back in their nests the wasps quickly close the entrance with a soil plug that they push up from within the burrow. This action is similar to the wasp’s nest closure at the end of each day. With the soil plug in place the wasp and its burrow remain relatively dry and undamaged until the rainstorm passes. Possibly stimulated by an increase in soil temperature, the wasp removes the soil plug and resumes foraging only after direct sunlight has warmed the soil again. Warm sunny days do appear to be more productive than cloudy days. (There is an increase in the total number of foraging flights, a high proportion of which produce beetles). But cloud cover does not appear to be the determinant. During cloudy days when the soil surface temperature stayes above 88°F (31°C) foraging will continue without the influence of direct sunlight. Foraging behavior responds more to large dips and rises in soil surface temperature rather than simply sun or cloud cover. Cerceris exiting a nest. How do you gather data? a) the objective (See Data Sheet for specific information) Visit your site a minimum of 4 sunny days during May (preferred, but June will also work) for beetle collection. Collect 50 beetles over those days (15–20 per day, weather-dependent). Put all beetles picked up off the ground during one day in one dated, labeled vial (marked "ground"). Put all beetles stolen from wasps during one day in one dated, labeled vial (marked "stolen"). Put all vials in a safe place, then mail to us (in prepaid envelope). b) site location Ground nesting wasps are located in accessible settings, not deep in woods or poison ivy! Cerceris nests occur in open areas of hard-packed sandy soil surrounded by woody habitat suitable for buprestid beetles. The buprestids being gathered by Cerceris are primarily arboreal and it is unlikely that the wasps would nest far from the “grocery store”. Most known colonies are less than 200 yards (200 m) from a forested area. Site of Cerceris colony in baseball outfield. Use Google Earth or your own knowledge to locate favorable topography in your neighborhood. The ground should be a hard-packed with relatively fine, sandy soil (exclude beaches and sand boxes). Sparse herbaceous vegetation is important so areas with a mixture of about 50% bare hard-packed sand and 50% short herbaceous vegetation are best. Focus on areas disturbed by humans: baseball diamonds, informal parking Cerceris colony around fire pit. spots, infrequently used roads, sandy roadsides, foot paths and soil around fire pits or open campsites. Elsewhere, colonies occur in a variety of habitats but are most often found on disturbed sites with soils exposed and compacted by human activity such as verges of soil next to asphalt roads or parking lots.
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