Polistes spp. (Hymenoptera: Vespidae) Orientation to Wine and Vinegar

Abstract Attractants are sought for trapping of Polistes spp. paper wasps when they are pestiferous. The serendipitous capture of Polistes metricus Say and Polistes bellicosus Cresson in traps baited with a wine/vinegar mixture for spotted wing drosophila, Drosophila suzukii (Matsumura) prompted experiments to determine the nature of the wasp response. Both wasp species were captured in subsequent field tests in traps baited with the same mixture of wine plus vinegar, and not in unbaited traps. Polistes bellicosus responses to wine, vinegar, ethanol (as a major volatile of wine), and acetic acid (as a major volatile of vinegar) were evaluated using a Y-tube olfactometer. In the olfactometer, P. bellicosus wasps were attracted to wine and not to vinegar. They also preferred wine alone to wine with vinegar, and were attracted to ethanol. Female wasps were deterred by acetic acid. In field tests comparing traps baited with wine, vinegar and a combination of the 2 materials, P. bellicosus and Polistes fuscatus (Fab.) were captured in traps baited with wine, but were not trapped with vinegar. The inclusion of vinegar with wine did not improve bait attractiveness in the field. We conclude that the paper wasp response to the D. suzukii bait of wine plus vinegar was largely the result of the wasp response to wine. This work constitutes the first demonstration of an attractive bait that can be used to trap P. bellicosus and P. metricus in situations where they are pestiferous, and suggests a potential source of a chemical attractant based on wine volatiles.