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Ignacio Lillo
Malaga
Friday, 11 October 2024, 11:09
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The oriental hornet is here to stay, just like the tiger mosquito and many other invasive exotic species which, with climate change, have found the ideal ecosystem in Malaga. However, nobody expected that the increase in numbers would be so fast. Reports of nests have skyrocketed in Malaga in just one year.
An indicator of their widespread presence is the number of interventions by the municipal pest control service, for whom this task has become one of the most common. The removal of colonies of oriental hornets has risen from 28 last year to 383 up to September this year, according to data provided by Malaga city hall. This is almost a 14-fold increase in just a few months.
Raimundo Real, professor of Zoology at the University of Malaga (UMA), emphasises that two factors have come together in this increase: the first is that the public are more aware of the previously unknown species. "People are calling the authorities more, and they are also more prepared to act. "But it is also true that they have proliferated and are spreading throughout the province, even in the Genal Valley and the Serranía de Ronda," he said. The Guardia Civil's Seprona nature and environment protection branch has also increased its actions. "Alarm is being created because they are proliferating," said Leal.
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On their behaviour, the professor notes that the hornets have started nesting later, which he ventures may be due to the drought. "The queens, which are larger, began to fly around April and May, when they would usually do so at the end of winter. These insects build their nests on the ground or under roof tiles, in hollows, and this limits their size. On the other hand, the Asian (which has not yet arrived in Malaga) puts them in tree branches, which gives rise to "immense nests because they have no physical limits". But Raimundo Real also noted that sometimes invasive species change their behaviour when they colonise a new habitat, because the conditions are different.
As for how to act in the event of detecting a nest, the expert warns that they should never be touched because they have a social behaviour: "If one is attacked, the rest come to its aid". On the other hand, if they are not disturbed, they do not usually sting. "They really go for the meat of the food or the sandwich, to take it to the larvae (adults eat nectar) and they usually leave when they have nothing to eat. You have to take it seriously but don't panic, because the hornet doesn't want to sting unless it feels threatened."
Therefore, their danger lies not so much in their sting, which is usually more painful than the common wasp due to their larger size, but little more. Rather, it is the threat they pose to the environment: oriental hornets prey on bees to feed their larvae, so they are depleting the largest pollinators in nature, and they have few predators to deal with them.
Regarding the procedure in the event of detecting a nest, Malaga city hall says that citizens can make a request by telephone (900 900 000, or 010); by email: vigilancia.sanitaria@malaga.eu; and at the district councils. Once the request has been received, the pest control service will contact the petitioners to coordinate a first visit. If it is possible to remove it, it will be done on the spot. If it is difficult to access or at height, its removal is planned and a new visit is scheduled.
At the same time, the fire brigade can also help, especially in places that are difficult to access or in response to alerts from the public via 080 and 112. Between July and August, 155 interventions by this service were recorded, although no distinction was made between wasps, bees or Oriental hornets. However, most of them are duplicated because during the day the area is surveyed to locate the nest and they wait until nightfall to go back and remove it, as it is at night that they are usually in the nest and so the greatest number of specimens can be eliminated. In the case of bees, the hive is removed, taking care not to damage them.
The intervention is usually carried out by the environmental health surveillance service team, unlike other tasks such as rat extermination and desinsectisation, which are carried out by the company awarded the pest control contract. An insecticide is used, but not against individual insects, but against the hornet's nest. "We have to ask people, as far as possible, when they call to report their presence, to try to specify where the nest is, so that we can go straight to it". The technicians are equipped with beekeeper's suits.
Once located, action is taken with highly effective insecticides, the hornet's nest is removed and the point is sealed. When the nest is high up or in areas that are difficult to access, the fire brigade is called in to help. Action is usually taken in the afternoon because that is when the wasps return to the nest and are calmer. Reports are being received from all neighbourhoods in the city and even from other municipalities in the province.
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