Abstract

Vespid wasps are ecologically beneficial, but they can be a nuisance and dangerous to people due to their tendency to sting. Here, the aim was to screen samples of volatiles (i.e., essential oils and pure chemicals) for their repellency against wasps. The number of wasps (mainly Vespula vulgaris) present in a glass box with attractant and 5 µL sample was compared to the number of wasps in a similar box with attractant only. Both boxes were connected to a large glass container harboring 18–35 wasps. Among 66 tested samples, some essential oils from Lamiaceae and Asteraceae, as well as some pure natural compounds such as the monoterpenes (−)-terpinen-4-ol and isopulegol showed a significant repellency against vespids. Our results corroborate the potential of (mixtures of) volatiles in repelling these insects.

Details

Title
Screening of Repellents against Vespid Wasps
Author
Boevé, Jean-Luc 1 ; Honraet, Kris 2 ; Rossel, Bart 2 

 Service Entomology, Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences, Rue Vautier 29, Brussels B-1000, Belgium 
 Oystershell Laboratories, Booiebos 24, Drongen B-9031, Belgium 
First page
272
Publication year
2014
Publication date
2014
Publisher
MDPI AG
e-ISSN
20754450
Source type
Scholarly Journal
Language of publication
English
ProQuest document ID
2799088187
Copyright
© 2014 by the authors; licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/). Notwithstanding the ProQuest Terms and Conditions, you may use this content in accordance with the terms of the License.