Asian Australian Wasp
Introduction:
The asian australian wasp is a pest that lives mainly in the north island and the top parts of the south island. They are a problem to the ecosystem because they kill food sources and many insects which impacts biodiversity . In this inquiry we are going to go more in depth about our pest and talk about the impacts,origins and solution to this pest.
Where did they come from:
No one really knows how the asian australian wasp came here. Many think that they came on freight ships that came during the late 1970s from China and japan. They now live throughout the north island bits on top of the south island in shrublands, swamps and salt marshes. There are also possibilities that aircraft had nests in them and they settled here.
What do they do to harm the environment:
Wasps disrupt food chains by taking food sources such as honey dew which is vital for other species. They kill newborn birds which slows down the production of the native species and causes them to be endangered. Honey bees are also one of their main targets and get attacked and killed. Farming can also be damaged and becomes costly to repair.
What do they eat?
Asian Australian Paper Wasps eat many different types of invertebrates such as Spiders, Ants, Bees and Flies. Not only that but they also prey on Nestling Birds which would be bad for the environment. They are able to consume 957g per hectare per invertebrate biomass and compete with other insects with nectar and honeydew.
This image shows the food chain that the asian australian paper wasp is a part of. It shows that the plants are eaten by ants and caterpillars then they are eaten by the asian australian paper wasp. Then finally they are eaten by the bird and the bird is eaten by the cat.
What can happen once they are gone from an ecosystem.
The way the asian australian wasp impacts an ecosystem is by eating natural food sources they kill insects and birds. Now that we know how they impact the ecosystem lets see what would happen if we eradicate them from one. If we eradicate the asian australian paper wasp from an ecosystem the bird population would come back. Many insects and bird species would recover and bring the natural food chain. In the end if we get rid of the pest menace from an ecosystem the biodiversity will recover along with the food chain over time
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Control method 1 spray
If we are to eradicate the asian australian paper wasp we must figure out ways to kill them. One way is spray you can use any spray but here are the ones if found online. Spectracide pro wasp, hornet killer, raid wasps, bondie wasp, pestxpert wasp jet long reach aerosol. You have to go to the nest in the afternoon or night to make sure that the wasps are in the nest, wear safety clothing and have an escape route just in case. Once you have done these steps, spray the wasp nest and they should be dead the next day.
Control method 2 bait
There are more ways to get rid of the wasp such as bait. You can use a chemical like poison and put it in meat bait where the wasp will feed it to its newborns and wipe it out.
Try to get a small tin tray and place it near the nest. The wasps will soon take it and thus the newborns are wiped out. The older ones will die soon enough and the whole nest will be taken care of.
Control method 3 powder
The 3rd method is to put a type of powder chemical on some of the wasps and it will spread to the whole colony and wipe it off. How you can do this is get a teaspoon of powder and put it by the nest and wash your hands after. The wasps will contract it and it will go around the colony and wipe them out.
Overall best method
We looked further in finding out which method is best suitable to mitigate the wasps.
The graph looked at which qualifications each one method had. The lower is what the method is better at. The bait is the better option as it has a minimal effect on the environment and is effective.
This graph you can understand more. We rated each criteria of the 3 methods by 1-5 with 1 being the better and 5 the worse. As you can see the best we have chosen is the bait. The reason we chose the bait is because it has less effect on the environment than the spray and It's more effective than the powder.
Bibliography:
Introduction-
Where did they come from-Source source 2 source 3
What do they do to harm the environment-Sources 1 2 3
What do they eat- Source source 2 source 3
What can happen once they are gone from an ecosystem-Source source 2 source 3