@prefix dcat: . @prefix dct: . @prefix foaf: . @prefix xsd: . a dcat:Dataset ; dct:description """#Tranche 1: Project 2.2#\r \r ###Large-scale eradication may be in store for the humble wasp – a species responsible for one of the worst pest problems in Aotearoa.###\r \r **OVERVIEW** \r \r Wasps have massive impacts on native flora and fauna, along with parts of the production sector including grapes and citrus – and they’re also a public health issue and nuisance.\r \r This BioHeritage project aims to deliver a significant change in wasp management, shifting from small-site control to eradication across large areas.\r \r The researchers are developing four state-of-the-art technologies to combat wasps. This includes assessing their economic feasibility, social acceptability and how practical it would be to deploy them at a large scale.\r \r **PROJECT LEADER**\r \r - Phil Lester, Victoria University of Wellington""" ; dct:identifier "21c8852f-ab91-47f1-a0d2-98dac53969d8" ; dct:issued "2024-01-26T01:22:36.738194"^^xsd:dateTime ; dct:modified "2024-08-01T23:17:02.388561"^^xsd:dateTime ; dct:publisher ; dct:title "Taking the Sting out of the Common Wasp" ; dcat:distribution , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , . a dcat:Distribution ; dct:description """###Mitonuclear interactions, mtDNA-mediated thermal plasticity and implications for the Trojan Female Technique for pest control###\r \r **July 2016**\r \r **Wolff JN, Tompkins DM, Gemmell NJ, Dowling DK. 2016. [Mitonuclear interactions, mtDNA-mediated thermal plasticity, and implications for the Trojan Female Technique for pest control.](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4956753/pdf/srep30016.pdf) Scientific Reports 6: 30016. **\r \r **ABSTRACT**\r \r Pest species pose major challenges to global economies, ecosystems, and health. Unfortunately, most conventional approaches to pest control remain costly, and temporary in effect. As such, a heritable variant of the Sterile Insect Technique (SIT) was proposed, based on the introduction of mitochondrial DNA mutations into pest populations, which impair male fertility but have no effects on females. Evidence for this "Trojan Female Technique" (TFT) was recently provided, in the form of a mutation in the mitochondrial cytochrome b gene (mt:Cyt-b) of *Drosophila melanogaster* which reduces male fertility across diverse nuclear backgrounds. However, recent studies have shown that the magnitude of mitochondrial genetic effects on the phenotype can vary greatly across environments, with mtDNA polymorphisms commonly entwined in genotype-by-environment (G x E) interactions. Here we test whether the male-sterilizing effects previously associated with the mt:Cyt-b mutation are consistent across three thermal and three nuclear genomic contexts. The effects of this mutation were indeed moderated by the nuclear background and thermal environment, but crucially the fertility of males carrying the mutation was invariably reduced relative to controls. This mutation thus constitutes a promising candidate for the further development of the TFT.\r \r **KEYWORDS**\r \r mutation;\r male fertility;\r thermal environment;\r nuclear genomic context;\r mitonuclear interactions;\r pupal viability;\r thermal plasticity""" ; dct:issued "2024-06-24T19:24:07.240483"^^xsd:dateTime ; dct:modified "2024-06-24T19:24:07.240483"^^xsd:dateTime ; dct:title "PAPER: Mitonuclear interactions for pest control" ; dcat:accessURL . a dcat:Distribution ; dct:description """###The potential for the use of gene drives for pest control in New Zealand: a perspective###\r \r **October 2017**\r \r **Dearden PK, Gemmell NJ, Mercier OR, Lester PJ, Scott MJ, Newcomb RD, Buckley TR, Jacobs JME, Goldson SG, Penman DR. 2018. [The potential for the use of gene drives for pest control in New Zealand: a perspective](https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/epdf/10.1080/03036758.2017.1385030?needAccess=true). Journal of the Royal Society of New Zealand 48(4): 225-244.**\r \r **ABSTRACT**\r \r Genetic technologies such as gene editing and gene drive systems have recently emerged as potential tools for pest control. Gene drives, in particular, have been described as potential solutions to the pest problems that beset New Zealand. Here we describe the current state of gene drive technologies and present a series of examples to examine the potential benefits and problems arising from gene drive approaches for pest control in New Zealand. We consider the risks and barriers, both biological and social, that would need to be addressed to deploy such systems against our key pests with particular reference to the unique characteristics of New Zealand’s biota, environment and peoples. Gene drives are a potentially useful technology for the eradication of pests in New Zealand but a great deal of research and understanding, as well as public acceptance, is required before they can be implemented.\r \r **KEYWORDS**\r \r Bioheritage; bioprotection; CRISPR; gene drives; pest control; social licence""" ; dct:issued "2024-06-25T00:37:20.686335"^^xsd:dateTime ; dct:modified "2024-06-25T00:37:20.686335"^^xsd:dateTime ; dct:title "PAPER: Gene drives for pest control" ; dcat:accessURL . a dcat:Distribution ; dct:description """###Viral and fungal pathogens associated with *Pneumolaelaps niutirani* (Acari: Laelapidae): a mite found in diseased nests of *Vespula* wasps###\r \r **November 2019**\r \r **Felden A, Baty JW, Bulgarella M, Brown RL, Dobelmann J, Gruber MAM, Quinn O, Lester PJ 2020. [Viral and fungal pathogens associated with *Pneumolaelaps niutirani* (Acari: Laelapidae): a mite found in diseased nests of *Vespula* wasps](https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007/s00040-019-00730-y.pdf). Insectes Sociaux 67(1): 83-93.**\r \r **ABSTRACT**\r \r Introduced social wasps (*Vespula* spp.) are a pest in many parts of the world. Recently, a mite species (*Pneumolaelaps niutirani*) was described and associated with disease symptoms in wasps. The mite does not appear to directly parasitise the wasps, but has been observed in high abundance, feeding on exudates from the mouths of larvae. We investigated the viral and fungal pathogens community in these mites and wasps. We found known viruses including Moku virus in both wasps and mites. Moku virus replicated in mites, likely indicating parasitism. Deformed wing virus, commonly found in wasps, was also detected in mite samples. Furthermore, the presence of putative viral transcripts related to 38 distinct viruses, including seven viruses previously isolated from arthropods, indicated that there may be many more viruses associated with the mite that are potentially shared with Vespula wasps. We also found generalist entomopathogenic fungus *Aspergillus* to infect both mites and wasps. Twelve distinct *Aspergillus* species were observed, all of which were found in wasp larvae from nests displaying symptoms of disease, with only one species in larvae from apparently healthy nests. *Aspergillus novofumigatus* was the most common of these species observed in wasps. Six Aspergillus species, including *A. novofumigatus* were detected in mites. *Aspergillus* loads were significantly higher in larvae from diseased nests. Our exploratory study indicates that mites can harbour both viruses and fungi that infect wasps, providing avenues of research into biological control using mites as infection vectors.\r \r **KEYWORDS**\r \r pathosphere; fungi; *pneumolaelaps niutirani*; *Vespula vulgaris*; viruses deformed-wing virus; vulgaris hymenoptera; common wasps; bee viruses; transmission; vespidae; reconstruction; dynamics; platform\r """ ; dct:issued "2024-06-25T04:35:31.925652"^^xsd:dateTime ; dct:modified "2024-06-25T04:35:31.925652"^^xsd:dateTime ; dct:title "PAPER: Pathogens associated with Pneumolaelaps niutirani " ; dcat:accessURL . a dcat:Distribution ; dct:description """###Fitness and microbial networks of the common wasp, *Vespula vulgaris* (Hymenoptera: Vespidae), in its native and introduced ranges.###\r \r **March 2019**\r \r **Gruber MAM, Quinn O, Baty JW, Dobelmann J, Haywood J, Wenseleers T, Lester PJ 2019. [Fitness and microbial networks of the common wasp, *Vespula vulgaris* (Hymenoptera: Vespidae), in its native and introduced ranges](https://resjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/een.12732). Ecological Entomology 44(4): 512-523.**\r \r **ABSTRACT**\r \r Variation in microbial communities between populations is increasingly hypothesised to affect animal fitness and performance, including for invasive species. Pathogenic species may be lost during the introduction process, enhancing invader fitness and abundance. This study assessed fitness, immune gene expression, and microbial network complexity of invasive common wasps, Vespula vulgaris. Microbial networks were assayed using 16S and 18S sequencing and gene expression arrays in the native (Belgium) and introduced range (New Zealand).\r \r \r **KEYWORDS**\r \r bacteria; fungi; invasive species; pathogens; social wasps; viruses; stranded rna viruses; enemy release; transmission; single dscam; invasions; behavior""" ; dct:issued "2024-06-25T02:30:18.180703"^^xsd:dateTime ; dct:modified "2024-06-25T02:30:18.180703"^^xsd:dateTime ; dct:title "PAPER: Wasp fitness and microbial networks" ; dcat:accessURL . a dcat:Distribution ; dct:description """###The association between mitochondrial genetic variation and reduced colony fitness in an invasive wasp###\r \r **July 2019**\r \r **Dobelmann J, Alexander A, Baty JW, Gemmell NJ, Gruber MAM, Quinn O, Wenseleers T, Lester PJ 2019. [The association between mitochondrial genetic variation and reduced colony fitness in an invasive wasp.](https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/mec.15159) Molecular Ecology 28(14): 3324-3338.**\r \r **ABSTRACT**\r \r Despite the mitochondrion’s long-recognized role in energy production, mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) variation commonly found in natural populations was assumed to be effectively neutral. However, variation in mtDNA has now been increasingly linked to phenotypic variation in life history traits and fitness. We examined whether the relative fitness in native and invasive common wasp (*Vespula vulgaris*) populations in Belgium and New Zealand (NZ), respectively, can be linked to mtDNA variation.\r \r **KEYWORDS**\r \r colony fitness; invasive species; mitochondrial DNA; mtdna variation; *Vespula vulgaris*; vulgaris l. hymenoptera; control region; common wasps; natural-selection; size variation; DNA; evolution; population; Vespidae""" ; dct:issued "2024-06-25T02:19:17.351454"^^xsd:dateTime ; dct:modified "2024-06-25T02:19:17.351454"^^xsd:dateTime ; dct:title "PAPER: Reduced wasp colony fitness" ; dcat:accessURL . a dcat:Distribution ; dct:description """###Introduction of a male-harming mitochondrial haplotype via ‘Trojan Females’ achieves population suppression in fruit flies###\r \r **May 2017**\r \r **Wolff JN, Gemmell NJ, Tompkins DM, Dowling DK 2017. [Introduction of a male-harming mitochondrial haplotype via 'Trojan Females' achieves population suppression in fruit flies](https://elifesciences.org/articles/23551#downloads). Elife 6.**\r \r **ABSTRACT**\r \r Pests are a global threat to biodiversity, ecosystem function, and human health. Pest control approaches are thus numerous, but their implementation costly, damaging to non-target species, and ineffective at low population densities. The Trojan Female Technique (TFT) is a prospective self-perpetuating control technique that is species-specific and predicted to be effective at low densities. The goal of the TFT is to harness naturally occurring mutations in the mitochondrial genome that impair male fertility while having no effect on females. Here, we provide proof-of-concept for the TFT, by showing that introduction of a male fertility-impairing mtDNA haplotype into replicated populations of *Drosophila melanogaster* causes numerical population suppression, with the magnitude of effect positively correlated with its frequency at trial inception. Further development of the TFT could lead to establishing a control strategy that overcomes limitations of conventional approaches, with broad applicability to invertebrate and vertebrate species, to control environmental and economic pests.\r \r **KEYWORDS**\r \r paternal mtdna leakage; *Drosophila melanogaster*; pest-control; male-fertility\r transmission; evolution; fitness; consequences; maintenance; inheritance\r """ ; dct:issued "2024-06-24T20:11:39.795194"^^xsd:dateTime ; dct:modified "2024-06-24T20:11:39.795194"^^xsd:dateTime ; dct:title "PAPER: Male-harming mitochondrial haplotype " ; dcat:accessURL . a dcat:Distribution ; dct:description """###High-Quality Assemblies for Three Invasive Social Wasps from the *Vespula* Genus###\r \r **October 2020**\r \r **Harrop T, Guhlin J, McLaughlin G, Permina E, Stockwell P, Gilligan J, Le Lec MF, Gruber MAM, Quinn O, Lovegrove M, Duncan EJ, Remnant EJ, Van Eeckhoven J, Graham B, Knapp RA, Langford KW, Kronenberg Z, Press MO, Eacker SM, Wilson-Rankin EE, Purcell J, Lester PJ, Dearden PK. 2020. [High-Quality Assemblies for Three Invasive Social Wasps from the *Vespula* Genus](https://academic.oup.com/g3journal/article-pdf/10/10/3479/37216514/g3journal3479.pdf). G3 Genes|Genomes|Genetics (Bethesda) 10(10): 3479-3488.**\r \r **ABSTRACT**\r \r We sequenced and annotated the genomes of the common wasp (*Vespula vulgaris*), German wasp (*Vespula germanica*), and the western yellowjacket (*Vespula pensylvanica*). Our chromosome-level *Vespula* assemblies each contain 176–179 Mb of total sequence assembled into 25 scaffolds, with 10–200 unanchored scaffolds, and 16,566–18,948 genes. We annotated gene sets relevant to the applied management of invasive wasp populations, including genes associated with spermatogenesis and development, pesticide resistance, olfactory receptors, immunity and venom. These genomes provide evidence for active DNA methylation in Vespidae and tandem duplications of venom genes. Our genomic resources will contribute to the development of next-generation control strategies, and monitoring potential resistance to chemical control.\r \r **KEYWORDS**\r \r *Vespula germanica, Vespula pensylvanica, Vespula vulgaris*, Hymenoptera, social insects, genomes""" ; dct:issued "2024-08-01T01:38:49.203836"^^xsd:dateTime ; dct:modified "2024-08-01T01:38:49.203836"^^xsd:dateTime ; dct:title "PAPER: High-Quality Assemblies for Three Invasive Vespula" ; dcat:accessURL . a dcat:Distribution ; dct:description """###Novel biotechnologies for eradicating wasps: seeking Māori studies students’ perspectives with Q method###\r \r **February 2019**\r \r **Mercier OR, King Hunt A, Lester P 2019. [Novel biotechnologies for eradicating wasps: seeking Māori studies students’ perspectives with Q method.](https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/epdf/10.1080/1177083X.2019.1578245?needAccess=true) Kōtuitui: New Zealand Journal of Social Sciences Online 14(1): 136–156.**\r \r **ABSTRACT**\r \r Aligned with the New Zealand government’s ‘Predator-Free 2050’ target for Aotearoa New Zealand, National Science Challenge: Our biological Heritage supports research into five distinct ‘novel biotechnological controls’ of exotic wasps. A framing question within this project is which controls are considered ‘socially acceptable’ and thus suitable for further development to control and potentially eradicate introduced wasps? How can the public answer this question without first engaging with complex technologies? Can they develop and express an informed view that still reflects their ‘gut’ reactions and unique positions? To model and explore the views of an ‘informed public’, university students in Māori studies engaged in reflection, writing and mapping activities; choice and ranking exercises; Q Method; and focus group interviews. Amongst the interviewees, Q Method analysis distinguished three ‘factors’, describing unique viewpoints: those who see the potential of biotechnologies, those who are in doubt about them and those in a position of trust in scientists. Overall, the group see potential in new biotechnologies for wasps but are wary of political, economic and social decision-making mechanisms.\r \r This paper also relates to the following Masters thesis:\r \r **King Hunt, A. (2023). [Novel biotechnological controls for social wasp eradication: Exploring religious and spiritual Māori perceptions using a Q-Method and kaupapa Māori methodology](https://openaccess.wgtn.ac.nz/articles/thesis/Novel_biotechnological_controls_for_social_wasp_eradication_Exploring_religious_and_spiritual_M_ori_perceptions_using_a_Q-Method_and_kaupapa_M_ori_methodology/22186756). Open Access Te Herenga Waka-Victoria University of Wellington.**\r \r **KEYWORDS**\r \r Māori perceptions of biotechnology; pest control; wasps; Kaupapa Māori; Māori-centred; Q method\r """ ; dct:issued "2024-06-25T04:10:46.006615"^^xsd:dateTime ; dct:modified "2024-06-25T04:10:46.006615"^^xsd:dateTime ; dct:title "PAPER: Novel wasp eradication biotechnologies" ; dcat:accessURL . a dcat:Distribution ; dct:description """###The long-term population dynamics of common wasps in their native and invaded range###\r \r **January 2017**\r \r **Lester PJ, Haywood J, Archer ME, Shortall CR 2017. [The long-term population dynamics of common wasps in their native and invaded range](https://besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/1365-2656.12622). Journal of Animal Ecology: 86(2): 337-347.**\r \r **ABSTRACT**\r \r We examined the long-term population dynamics of the invasive common wasp, *Vespula vulgaris*, in its native range in England and its invaded range in New Zealand. We used 39 years of wasp density data from four sites in England, and 23 years of data from six sites in New Zealand. Wasp population time series was examined using partial rate correlation functions. Gompertz population models and multivariate autoregressive state-space (MARSS) models were fitted, incorporating climatic variation.\r \r **Keywords**\r population density; population dynamics; *Vespula vulgaris*; density dependence; invasive species \r \r """ ; dct:issued "2024-06-25T00:17:55.485656"^^xsd:dateTime ; dct:modified "2024-06-25T00:17:55.485656"^^xsd:dateTime ; dct:title "PAPER: Population dynamics of common wasps" ; dcat:accessURL . a dcat:Distribution ; dct:description """###Experimental high-density trapping of social wasps: target kairomones for workers or gynes for drones?###\r \r **August 2020**\r \r **Sullivan TES, Sullivan NJ, El-Sayed AM, Brierley S, Suckling DM 2020. [Experimental high-density trapping of social wasps: target kairomones for workers or gynes for drones?](https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/epdf/10.1080/00779962.2020.1802880?needAccess=true) New Zealand Entomologist 43(2): 65-76. https://doi.org/10.1080/00779962.2020.1802880**\r \r **ABSTRACT**\r \r Social wasps are amongst the most loathed exotic predators in New Zealand, with widespread adverse impacts on native ecosystems and fauna. Sustainable alternatives to pesticides are sorely needed in *Fuscospora* (beech) forests. We tested a new semiochemical evaluation protocol to assess the extent of high-density trap competition as an indicator of mass trapping, in an open landscape adjacent to a beech forest near Cass (Canterbury, New Zealand), for potential worker or drone removal. We tested the kairomone lure using a before-after control-impact design at a 1-ha scale with a grid of 25 bucket traps as a high-density trapping treatment (three replicates). The trial was affected by a major inundation event and catches declined steadily in both treatments for the month following, and treatment effects were not significantly different. Drone captures in sticky traps showed a dose response in catch to 1, 3 or 10 gynes (virgin queens). Sticky traps baited with three gynes in a 5 × 5 array over 1 ha (four replicates), caught a mean of 7.39 (±0.88) drones per trap per day across the high density and control traps (n = 116), but there was no difference in the number of drones caught per central trap in the control and treatment plots (n = 4 per plot), demonstrating the limitations of our methods under extreme population pressure in such a mobile species. It is proposed that the gyne sex pheromone be identified and investigated for potential use in area-wide suppression, as it holds more promise as an attractant than the kairomones tested. http://www.zoobank.org/urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:C0809A1F-87C2-431C-BA14-548F00D954F9 \r \r **KEYWORDS**\r \r *Vespula germanica;* *Vespula vulgaris;* *drone;* *worker;* *sex pheromone;* \r *kairomone*\r \r """ ; dct:issued "2024-03-18T22:24:06.504482"^^xsd:dateTime ; dct:modified "2024-03-18T22:24:06.504482"^^xsd:dateTime ; dct:title "PAPER: High-density trapping of social wasps" ; dcat:accessURL . a dcat:Distribution ; dct:description """###The Vulgar Wasp: The Story of a Ruthless invader and ingenious predator###\r \r **April 2018**\r \r **Lester PJ 2018. The Vulgar Wasp: The Story of a Ruthless invader and Ingenious predator. Wellington, Victoria University Press.**\r \r **ABSTRACT**\r \r In this book, entomologist Phil Lester describes the many fascinating and lesser-known sides of the common wasp. He asks: how can we manage wasps? Can we ever learn to live with them? What can they teach us about the challenges we face for pest control? With warmth, wit and intelligence, The Vulgar Wasp tells the story of the common wasp and its impact on us and our biodiversity.\r \r """ ; dct:issued "2024-06-25T02:03:55.693722"^^xsd:dateTime ; dct:modified "2024-06-25T02:03:55.693722"^^xsd:dateTime ; dct:title "BOOK: The Vulgar Wasp" ; dcat:accessURL . a dcat:Distribution ; dct:description """###Fitness in invasive social wasps: the role of variation in viral load, immune response and paternity in predicting nest size and reproductive output###\r \r **March 2019**\r \r **Dobelmann J, Loope KJ, Wilson-Rankin E, Quinn O, Baty JW, Gruber MAM, Lester PJ 2017. [Fitness in invasive social wasps: the role of variation in viral load, immune response and paternity in predicting nest size and reproductive output.](https://resjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/een.12732) Oikos 126(8): 1208–1218. **\r \r **ABSTRACT**\r \r Variation in microbial communities between populations is increasingly hypothesised to affect animal fitness and performance, including for invasive species. Pathogenic species may be lost during the introduction process, enhancing invader fitness and abundance. This study assessed fitness, immune gene expression, and microbial network complexity of invasive common wasps, *Vespula vulgaris*. Microbial networks were assayed using 16S and 18S sequencing and gene expression arrays in the native (Belgium) and introduced range (New Zealand).\r \r **KEYWORDS**\r \r kashmir bee virus; interfering rna pathway; honey-bee; new-zealand; microsatellite loci; genetic diversity; *Vespula vulgaris*; *Apis mellifera*; *Bombus terrestris*; l hymenoptera\r \r """ ; dct:issued "2024-06-24T22:43:08.058912"^^xsd:dateTime ; dct:modified "2024-06-24T22:43:08.058912"^^xsd:dateTime ; dct:title "PAPER: Fitness in invasive social wasps" ; dcat:accessURL . a dcat:Distribution ; dct:description """###Bringing the "trickster wasp" into the discourse on biotechnological controls of "pest wasps"###\r \r **May 2017**\r \r **Mercier O 2017. [Bringing the "trickster wasp" into the discourse on biotechnological controls of "pest wasps"](https://www.journal.mai.ac.nz/system/files/MAIJrnl_6_1__Mercier_commentary_Final.pdf). MAI Journal: A New Zealand Journal of Indigenous Scholarship 6(1): 74-81.**\r \r **ABSTRACT**\r \r Last year the New Zealand Government’s announcement of a “Predator Free NZ 2050” was accompanied by a target for a significant scientific breakthrough capable of eradicating at least one small mammalian predator by 2025. Strong responses and consolidation and repositioning activity ensued. A commonly agreed gap in our understanding is whether we, as a society, would allow the use of such a control, if it existed. Does a “social licence to operate” exist for the NZ scientific establishment? For the New Zealand Government, for that matter? The National Science Challenge funds a project that seeks to answer these questions, by exploring the “social and cultural” perceptions of biotechnological controls of German and common wasp populations. Here I present key considerations informing our framing and methodology for exploring this issue, including how Maamingidae, a native family of wasps, acts as a touchstone for considering what research into wasps adds to the broader discourse around pests.\r \r **KEYWORDS**\r \r biotechnology; wasps; social and cultural perceptions; tikanga""" ; dct:issued "2024-06-25T00:44:09.119163"^^xsd:dateTime ; dct:modified "2024-06-25T00:44:09.119163"^^xsd:dateTime ; dct:title "PAPER: Biotechnological Controls of \"Pest Wasps\"" ; dcat:accessURL . a dcat:Distribution ; dct:description """###Invasion Success and Management Strategies for Social Vespula Wasps###\r \r **September 2018**\r \r **Lester PJ, Beggs JR 2019. [Invasion Success and Management Strategies for Social Vespula Wasps](https://www.annualreviews.org/content/journals/10.1146/annurev-ento-011118-111812#). Annual Review of Entomology. 64: 51-71.**\r \r **ABSTRACT**\r \r Three species of *Vespula* have become invasive in Australia, Hawai‘i, New Zealand, and North and South America and continue to spread. These social wasp species can achieve high nest densities, and their behavioral plasticity has led to substantial impacts on recipient communities. Ecologically, they affect all trophic levels, restructuring communities and altering resource flows. Economically, their main negative effect is associated with pollination and the apicultural industry. Climate change is likely to exacerbate their impacts in many regions. Introduced *Vespula* spp. likely experience some degree of enemy release from predators or parasites, although they are exposed to a wide range of microbial pathogens in both their native and introduced range. Toxic baits have been significantly improved over the last decade, enabling effective landscape-level control. Although investigated extensively, no effective biological control agents have yet been found. Emerging technologies such as gene drives are under consideration.\r \r **KEYWORDS**\r \r Animals; Climate Change; Feeding Behavior; Humans; Introduced Species; *Pest Control, Biological; Wasps; Hymenoptera; biological control; foraging behavior; insect pest control; invasive species; social and economic effects""" ; dct:issued "2024-06-25T02:00:08.469597"^^xsd:dateTime ; dct:modified "2024-06-25T02:00:08.469597"^^xsd:dateTime ; dct:title "PAPER: Wasp Invasion Success and Management Strategies " ; dcat:accessURL . a dcat:Distribution ; dct:description """###Notch signalling mediates reproductive constraint in the adult worker honeybee###\r \r **August 2016**\r \r **Duncan EJ, Hyink O, Dearden PK. 2016. [Notch signalling mediates reproductive constraint in the adult worker honeybee](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4976197/pdf/ncomms12427.pdf). Nature Communications 7: 12427. \r **\r \r **ABSTRACT**\r \r The hallmark of eusociality is the reproductive division of labour, in which one female caste reproduces, while reproduction is constrained in the subordinate caste. In adult worker honeybees (*Apis mellifera*) reproductive constraint is conditional: in the absence of the queen and brood, adult worker honeybees activate their ovaries and lay haploid male eggs. Here, we demonstrate that chemical inhibition of Notch signalling can overcome the repressive effect of queen pheromone and promote ovary activity in adult worker honeybees. We show that Notch signalling acts on the earliest stages of oogenesis and that the removal of the queen corresponds with a loss of Notch protein in the germarium. We conclude that the ancient and pleiotropic Notch signalling pathway has been co-opted into constraining reproduction in worker honeybees and we provide the first molecular mechanism directly linking ovary activity in adult worker bees with the presence of the queen.\r \r **KEYWORDS**\r \r Eusocial insects\r Division of labour;\r Queen reproduction;\r Worker caste;\r Reproductive constraints;\r Pheromones;\r Ovary activation;\r Notch signalling""" ; dct:issued "2024-06-24T19:17:06.896959"^^xsd:dateTime ; dct:modified "2024-06-24T19:17:06.896959"^^xsd:dateTime ; dct:title "PAPER: Notch signalling in honeybees" ; dcat:accessURL . a dcat:Distribution ; dct:description """###A metatranscriptomic analysis of diseased social wasps (*Vespula vulgaris*) for pathogens, with an experimental infection of larvae and nests###\r \r **December 2018**\r \r **Quinn O, Gruber MAM, Brown RL, Baty JW, Bulgarella M, Lester PJ 2018. [A metatranscriptomic analysis of diseased social wasps (*Vespula vulgaris*) for pathogens, with an experimental infection of larvae and nests.](https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0209589&type=printable) PLOS ONE 13(12): e0209589.**\r \r **ABSTRACT**\r \r Social wasps are a major pest in many countries around the world. Pathogens may influence wasp populations and could provide an option for population management via biological control. We investigated the pathology of nests of apparently healthy common wasps, Vespula vulgaris, with nests apparently suffering disease.\r \r **KEYWORDS**\r \r Animals; Gene Expression Profiling/methods; Host-Pathogen Interactions; Larva/microbiology; Metagenome; Metagenomics; Microbiota; Phylogeny;\r Wasps/microbiology/ultrastructure""" ; dct:issued "2024-06-25T01:51:01.256190"^^xsd:dateTime ; dct:modified "2024-06-25T01:51:01.256190"^^xsd:dateTime ; dct:title "PAPER: A metatranscriptomic analysis of wasps" ; dcat:accessURL . a dcat:Distribution ; dct:description """###Invasive Insects: Management Methods Explored###\r \r **September 2019**\r \r **McLaughlin GM, Dearden PK. 2019. [Invasive Insects: Management Methods Explored.](https://academic.oup.com/jinsectscience/article-pdf/19/5/17/33020809/iez085.pdf) Journal of Insect Science 19(5).**\r \r **ABSTRACT**\r \r Invasive insect species can act as a plague across the globe, capable of vast expansion and rapid, proliferate reproduction. The spread of pathogens of serious diseases such as malaria and Zika virus and damages to agricultural crops number some of the afflictions invasive insects provide to humans alone. Additionally, an escape from predators can fail to keep invasive insects in check, providing potential threats such as extra resource competition to native species when insects invade. A variety of methods are employed to combat these invasive species, each with their own varying levels of success. Here, we explore the more traditional methods of invasive insect pest control, such as pesticides and biological control. In lieu of several unintended consequences resulting from such practices, we suggest some should be abandoned. We evaluate the potential of new techniques, in particular, those with a genetic component, regarding the costs, benefits and possible consequences of implementing them. And finally, we consider which techniques should be the focus of future research, if we truly wish to manage or even eradicate invasive insects in their introduced lands.\r \r **KEYWORDS**\r \r invasive insect; pesticide; biocontrol; gene editing; RNA interference""" ; dct:issued "2024-06-25T04:46:58.001239"^^xsd:dateTime ; dct:modified "2024-06-25T04:46:58.001239"^^xsd:dateTime ; dct:title "PAPER: Invasive Insects: Management Methods Explored" ; dcat:accessURL . a foaf:Organization ; foaf:name "Challenge Inventory" .