CONTENT - International Society of Zoological Sciences

ICZ2008 – Abstracts S22
Spreading in France of the asiatic hornet, Vespa velutina
nigrithorax : 2004-2007 distribution and invasion potentialities
Claire Villemant 1 , Olivier Gargominy 2 , Quentin Rome 1 , Jean
Haxaire 3 and Agnès Rortais 4
1 MNHN Département Systématique et Evolution, UMR 5202
CNRS, CP 50, 45 rue Buffon, F-75005 Paris, France ; 2 MNHN
Département d'écologie et gestion de la biodiversité, Service du
patrimoine naturel ; 3 « Le Roc », F-47310 Laplume ; 4 Université
de Tours, Institut de Recherche sur la Biologie de l'Insecte (IRBI),
UMR 6035 CNRS, Parc de Grandmont, F-37200 Tours, France ; 5
Laboratoire Evolution, Génomes et Spéciation – LEGS, CNRS,
UPR 9034, F-91198 Gif-sur-Yvette, France
The accidental introduction of the Asian hornet Vespa velutina in
south-west of France represents a new threat to biodiversity. This
hornet, naturally distributed in mountainous regions from north
India and China to Indonesia, is notably known as a fierce predator
of pollinators, mainly honeybees (Abrol, 1994, Tan et al., 2007). In
2004, the variety V. velutina nigrithorax was recorded, for the first
time, in the Lot-et-Garonne department, and since then, it spread
out very quickly across 17 departments throughout the Aquitaine
region and its surroundings (Haxaire et al., 2006, Villemant et al.,
2006). As demonstrated by the rapid growth of colonies, the
species adapted perfectly well to its new environment so that
eradication is no longer possible. In its natural range of distribution,
V. velutina occurs under various climatic conditions (continental,
tropical and mountainous) and it feeds on a wide range of
resources (insects and fruits). Therefore, further expansion is
expected to occur, in the near future, to other European countries
where the hornet can find suitable environmental conditions to
develop. Thus, mapping the invasive hornet distribution proved to
be essential to follow the wasp spreading and try to infer the
modalities of expansion, in order to better perform control
measures aiming at slowing down the invasion. We presented
here the first V. velutina invasion maps, drawn from the 2004-2007
nest records registered in the INPN database (Inventaire national
du Patrimoine naturel, http://inpn.mnhn.fr) and inferred the
spreading riks in Europe by using the Maxent model developed for
modelling species geographic distributions (Phillips et al., 2006).
A new enemy of honeybees in Europe: the invasive Asian
hornet Vespa velutina
Claire Villemant 1 , A. Perrard 1 , Quentin Rome 1 , Olivier Gargominy 2 ,
Jean Haxaire 3 , Eric Darrouzet 4 and Agnès Rortais 5
1 MNHN Département Systématique et Evolution, UMR 5202
CNRS, CP 50, 45 rue Buffon, F-75005 Paris, France ; 2 MNHN
Département d'écologie et gestion de la biodiversité, Service du
patrimoine naturel ; 3 « Le Roc », F-47310 Laplume ; 4 Université
de Tours, Institut de Recherche sur la Biologie de l'Insecte (IRBI),
UMR 6035 CNRS, Parc de Grandmont, F-37200 Tours, France ;
5 Laboratoire Evolution, Génomes et Spéciation – LEGS, CNRS,
UPR 9034, F-91198 Gif-sur-Yvette, France
In 2004, the Asian hornet V. velutina nigrithorax was recorded, for
the first time, in France in the Lot-et-Garonne department. Since
then, the wasp spread out very quickly across 17 departments
throughout the Aquitaine region and its surroundings. As
demonstrated by the rapid growth of colonies, the species adapted
perfectly well to its new environment so that its eradication is no
longer possible. Further expansion is definitely expected to occur,
in the near future, to other French departments as well as to other
European countries where the hornet can find suitable
environmental conditions (climate and resources) to develop. In its
natural range of distribution, V. velutina occurs under various
climatic conditions (continental, tropical, and mountainous) and
feeds on a wide range of resources (various insects and fruits).
Pollinators, mainly honeybees, being its main preys, the Asian
hornet thus represents a new threat to European beekeeping
activities. We presented here a short description of the hornet, its
main biological features and the first invasion map in France,
drawn from the 2004-2007 nest records registered in the INPN
database (Inventaire national du Patrimoine naturel,
http://inpn.mnhn.fr).
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Mapping V. velutina distribution proved to be essential to follow the
wasp invasion and to try to infer its modalities of expansion in
order to perform control measures aiming at slowing down the
invasion.
Chemotaxis of the Pinewood Nematode, Bursaphelenchus
xylophilus, to volatiles associated with Host Pine, Pinus
massoniana, and its vector, Monochamus alternatus
Lili Zhao and Jianghua Sun
State Key Laboratory of Integrated Management of Pest Insects
and Rodents, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences,
Beijing 100101, P. R. China
The pinewood nematode (PWN), Bursaphelenchus xylophilus, the
most important invasive species in pine forests of Asia, is
transported to new pine hosts by vector beetles of the genus
Monochamus. Third-stage dispersal juveniles (JIII) aggregate in
pupal chambers around the vector as it matures. We demonstrate
that the ratio of three terpenes (α-pinene and β-pinene and
longifolene at 1:2.7:1.1) released by larval Monochamus alternatus
strongly attract JIII while the ratio of these three terpenes (1:0.1:0.01)
found in healthy xylem of Pinus massoniana attracts only the
propagative stage (Jn) of the nematode. The results show that the
nematode can distinguish specific ratios of terpenes and adjust
behaviors for adaption to environmental change. The ratio of these
semiochemicals may play an important role in nematode
communication as it does in insects. We suggest that the volatiles
produced by the host plants could be the basis of chemoecological
relationship between plant parasitic nematodes and their vector
insects. In addition, capture of JIII with terpene baited trap tubes
deployed for 2hr in the field is demonstrated. Subsequently a new
rapid sampling method using a baited trapping tube for attracting
third-stage dispersal pinewood nematode juveniles (JIII) within two
to six hours without injuring the pine tree or altering the wood
product. This simple, effective and rapid sampling method is
superior to the traditional laborious sampling by the Baermann
funnel technique and has important implication at either ports-ofentry
or field detection of this worldwide quarantine pest.