April 18th, 2017

It is at this time of year that foundress Vespa velutina queen (VVQ) wakes up, and starts to construct her primary nest. So, the  VVQ will be looking for flowering plants not only to feed on nectar but to hunt prey. ​

Xesus Feas has many ideas in preventing the spread of the Vespa velutina (VV) One of them is by trapping the Vespa velutina queen (VVQ) as by doing this, He feels we could stop the full cycle and development of the future colony

Xesus Feas's findings show that the Camellia plant is a good starting point to set a selective trap to capture the VVQ. ​In ​Galicia, Northern Spain where Xesus currently resides and has been researching the Vespa velutina frequently visits the Camellia plant when flowering. Furthermore, the VVQ uses the Camellia plant for nesting purposes.

Image shows Vespa velutina visiting the Camellia plant

Image shows Vespa velutina visiting the Camellia plant

Image shows Vespa velutina inside Camellia flower

Dr.Takatoshi Ueno, from Institute of Biological Control (Faculty of Agriculture, Hyushu University, Japan) described in a previous paper a list of flowering plants that the Vespa velutina (VV) uses for feeding on nectar and for searching prey (Paper access:
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/299535722_Flower-visiting_by_the_Invasive_Hornet_Vespa_velutina_nigrithorax_Hymenoptera_Vespidae).
The genus Camellia (Theaceae) is native to East Asia and comprises more than 200 woody evergreen species. Some species possess great economic value, particularly C. sinensis (the tea plant) which is grown commercially mainly in tropical and subtropical regions. Other species such as C. japonica, C. reticulata and C. sasanqua are cultivated in temperate regions worldwide as ornamentals.
In Galicia (NW Spain), one of the most important Camellia producing-regions in Europe, about 2.5 million Camellia plants (most of them C. japonica, CJ) are produced in nurseries for use as houseplants and in gardening each year and then exported to markets in Belgium, The Netherlands, France, the United Kingdom and Portugal.
It was celebrated in 2014  the International  Camellia  Congress (Pontevedra, Galicia, Spain). (More information at: http://www.camellia2014.depo.es/
It was a pleasure to participated in the event, in fact some of my previous research was carried out with Dr. Carmen Salinero (President of the Spanish Camellia Society and Director for Spain of the International Camellia Society,Spain). For more information: 
http://www.mdpi.com/1420-3049/18/4/4573
http://www.mdpi.com/1420-3049/17/6/6716
After Xesus conducted a personal interview with many Camellia producers and beekeepers, field information show him that in Galicia Vespa velutina visit Camellia when flowering. Furthermore, VVQ use Camellia for nesting purpose.
From this point of view, Camellia is a good point to selective trap VVQ at this time of the year.