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  • Welcome to the new site. Here's a thread about the update where you can post your feedback, ask questions or spot those nasty bugs!

Vespa velutina

Jerome Marot

Well-known member
Vespa velutina, the Asian hornet is an invasive species in France where it was accidentally imported near Bordeaux in 2004. They are a concern to beekeepers, as they tend to prey on western honeybees which have not evolved defense strategies as the Asian honeybee was able to do.

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Jerome Marot

Well-known member
They are about 3cm in length. There are study on how to fight them, but I am not aware of a project to release sterile males. This is done for mosquitos, which are relatively easy to grow. Hornets are social insects, so to grow 10 millions males one would need thousands of controlled colonies.
 

Asher Kelman

OPF Owner/Editor-in-Chief
They are about 3cm in length. There are study on how to fight them, but I am not aware of a project to release sterile males. This is done for mosquitos, which are relatively easy to grow. Hornets are social insects, so to grow 10 millions males one would need thousands of controlled colonies.
Easier than the thousands of high speed gas centrifuges Iran builds, under sanctions, to enrich nuclear fuel!

if one can do this for war, surely one can do this for Mother Nature who is so generous to us!
 

Jerome Marot

Well-known member
I suppose the suggestion is not to use the centrifuges to construct weapons to blow the hornets to tiny bits. I would have objections. 😀
 

Asher Kelman

OPF Owner/Editor-in-Chief
I suppose the suggestion is not to use the centrifuges to construct weapons to blow the hornets to tiny bits. I would have objections. 😀
Exactly, Jérôme,

I was, of course, referring to the Herculean effort in meeting a hardly-imaginable goal, rather than allowing for the Iranians to actually get nuclear tips for their long range missiles!

The ordinary sane person dismisses such tasks as impractical, too high risk, costly or immoral.

When told that attack “plan A” would need some 200,000 men with, at the most, 10-15% lost, one General said, “Fine, I can go with that!”

Now back to the Hornets’ challenge, doesn’t that now seem much more doable?

Asher
 

Jerome Marot

Well-known member
Asher, neither you nor I are entomologists. Be comforted that there are more competent people studying the problem as we speak. It seems that some parasite of the hornet is a promising candidate, but more studies are needed to be sure that the parasite is safe for the local fauna. OTOH, these hornets also feed on another invasive species, the box tree moth, which is destroying box trees (buxus sempervirens) all over France, including some historical gardens around old castles. Unfortunately, it prefers honeybees to the moths.
 

Asher Kelman

OPF Owner/Editor-in-Chief
Asher, neither you nor I are entomologists. Be comforted that there are more competent people studying the problem as we speak. It seems that some parasite of the hornet is a promising candidate, but more studies are needed to be sure that the parasite is safe for the local fauna. OTOH, these hornets also feed on another invasive species, the box tree moth, which is destroying box trees (buxus sempervirens) all over France, including some historical gardens around old castles. Unfortunately, it prefers honeybees to the moths.
Of course, I am not entomologist. My only point is that such problems are worthy of our full and extraordinary efforts. After all, we routinely spend billions on trivia. We must tackle threats to pollinating insects!

Asher
 
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