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The Autonomous University of Barcelona is not just any university. Its physical location makes it subject to many other factors. For example, the close contact with nature causes the presence of insects unusual in other higher education facilities to be detected in the university area.
For a few years now, the Asian bird has made an appearance as in many other natural environments in the country. And for this reason, the Zoology Unit of the Department of Animal Biology, Plant Biology and Ecology (BABVE) will develop, for the fifth consecutive year, a practical study of the Asian wasp plague on the UAB campus within the teaching of the subject of Animal and Pest Resource Management (GRAP) of the third year of the Environmental Biology degree. A group of students, led by the subject's teaching staff, will begin a campaign to detect and capture queens of this species. The objective is to detect the presence of the queens and eliminate the greatest number of individuals that could give rise to new nests on the campus, which will help avoid the risks generated by their presence and proliferation in inhabited areas.
Therefore, until the end of May, a total of 90 traps will be installed throughout the campus to capture the queens of these wasps and minimize the appearance of new Vespa velutina nests on campus. These traps capture the queens of the Asian wasp and do not pose any risk to people, since once the wasps have entered they cannot leave. In order to achieve the objective of the campaign, it is very important that the traps placed are respected and not manipulated.
The campaign to capture Vespa velutina queens, with the students of the Environmental Biology degree from last year, captured and eliminated a total of 1,464 specimens, a capture of 16.27 queens per trap that represents an increase compared to 2022, in which 8.92 queens were eliminated per trap. It is expected that this withdrawal of queens may lead to a decrease in the nests present on campus.
The Asian wasp is an invasive exotic species native to Asia that was detected for the first time in Europe in 2004, in France. Subsequently, in 2012 it was found in Galicia, in the north of Portugal, in the Basque Country and in Navarra, and that same year the first specimens were detected in Catalonia (the Aran Valley and Alt Empordà). A year later, nests were already found in La Garrotxa, La Selva and El Ripollès and a process of expansion began across several territories in Catalonia.
The presence of this invasive species in our territory produces important effects on beekeeping, by preying on the honey bee, but also on other pollinators of crops and wild flora. Likewise, it has effects on public health, by creating a perception of insecurity in the population due to the risk of its bites.
