Social Wasps in New Zealand
Four species of social wasps, accidentally introduced to New Zealand, are now established and classed as pests. Two of the four species are vespulid wasps (common and German), the other two species are paper wasps.
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Vespulid wasp |
Paper wasp |
Social wasps are a pest of urban, rural, and natural ecosystems. They can spoil peoples’ enjoyment of the outdoors, as well posing a health risk; affect the profitability and safety of industries such as beekeeping, horticulture, forestry and tourism; and upset the ecological balance in native ecosystems. New Zealand has some of the highest densities of social wasps in the world. In beech forest with honeydew, the biomass of social wasps (about 1100 g/ha/yr) is greater than that of all the native birds.
Landcare Research is studying the ecology and control of wasps. Our goal is to find ways for managers to reduce wasp densities to environmentally acceptable levels.