高清福利片

Invasive species have the capacity to cause catastrophic impacts on wildlife. In the US, the recent discovery of the now infamous has caused great concern over potential havoc among bee populations.

In Australia, a on invasive听听(Vespula germanica) shows our country is occupied by an insect that swarms decaying corpses, decapitates its prey and picks fights with dingoes.

The study led by , a PhD student in the Global Ecology Lab in the School of Life and Environmental Sciences, looked at European wasps and their role as a scavenger.

鈥淭hese wasps are absolutely ruthless,鈥� Ms Spencer said. 鈥淲hen they see a carcass, it becomes a feeding frenzy for a colony and the wasps will stop at nothing to defend their food.鈥�

During the study, the researchers monitored 20 kangaroo carcasses located in a mix of grassland and forest habitats in听Kosciuszko National Park. Wasps congregated in large numbers around every carcass. They attacked any blowflies that attempted to approach. This wasn鈥檛 just evident in the data collected 鈥� the researchers sat next to carcasses and saw fly after fly taken to the ground by wasps.

Many of these flies showed signs of mutilation.

鈥淭o our surprise, some were even missing their heads,鈥� Ms Spencer said. 鈥淚n an effort to protect 鈥榯heir鈥� carcass, the European wasps were decapitating flies. This may have simply been defensive behaviour, but they could have also been taking bits of flies back to their nest for larvae to feed on.鈥�

鈥淲e also found that the wasps were bothering animals much larger in size,鈥� Ms Spencer said. 鈥淥ur camera trap images showed dingoes snapping at wasps. Many of these animals retreated without feeding on the carcasses, presumably because the wasps were stinging them.鈥�

This study is听听of investigations into European wasp impacts in Kosciuszko National Park. But it has raised important points on the fate of carcasses dominated by wasps. For one, it seems that blowflies and dingoes are sometimes prevented from doing their job of 鈥榗leaning up鈥� carcasses in the landscape. Flies are also听major pollinators听and decapitation isn鈥檛 much good for pollen transfer.

If wasp numbers are supported by prevalent carcass resources (such as large numbers being available to them via听) it may suggest the need to undertake culls of pest species when wasps are not active, such as during the coldest times of the year.

How do wasps compare to murder hornets?

Like the European wasp, the murder hornet also threatens insect pollinators. The hornets raised alarms in the USA, as they are known to decimate populations of honeybees.

Alarms were also raised because people fear the nasty sting associated with the hornet. In Australia there is also a focus on the impacts of European wasps on human health.听.

鈥淲hile both insects have painful stings that can result in severe allergic reactions,听,鈥� Ms Spencer said. 鈥淲e would do well to redirect our concern towards the impacts that they are having on our ecosystems.鈥�

Declaration:听Funding was provided by the Australian Geographic Society and the Holsworth Wildlife Research Endowment.

An edited version of this article first appeared in The Conversation, 听It was written by Emma Spencer and Dr Thomas 高清福利片ome, in the School of Life and Environmental Sciences at University of Sydney, Dr Philip Barton, Federation University and Professor William Ripple, Oregon State University.