Conservationists have begun deploying traps to catch the Asian hornet, a non-native invasive insect. They want to monitor its occurrence and protect bees. It is for them that the Asian hornet is the biggest threat. In the Czech Republic, this insect first appeared last October in Pilsen. And that’s also where the naturalists placed the first traps.
The traps are made on a 3D printer and contain inlet and exit holes. “Unlike the Asian hornet, our domestic hornet does not fit into the intake hole. Smaller exit holes are then placed around the perimeter for smaller insects that would accidentally get into the trap,” explains Zdeněk Chval, head of the laboratory where the traps are made, from the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering of the ZČU in Pilsen.
The traps will be placed in the vicinity of places where the occurrence of the Asian hornet was recorded this year and last year. It has so far appeared in Pilsen, Hrádek and Rudná u Prahy, but only in Pilsen was a nest found. Naturalists also want to install traps near the D5 highway. “We lure the animals with baits based on juicy sugary solutions – most often honey in combination with wine or beer. The alcohol component plays an important role because it has a repellent effect on some insects. Hornets are able to sense the bait even several hundred meters away. We hang the traps ideally in a shady place, preferably near water,” says Jan Walter, an entomologist from the West Bohemian Museum. In the Pilsen region, naturalists plan to place around 80 traps.
