Project Grant 20246701342395

** AWARDS ISSUED PRIOR TO JANUARY 20, 2025, WERE FUNDED UNDER PREVIOUS ADMINISTRATIONS AND MAY NOT REFLECT THE PRIORITIES AND POLICIES OF THE CURRENT ADMINISTRATION.** IN AUGUST 2023 THE FIRST CONFIRMED POPULATION OF INVASIVE, YELLOW-LEGGED HORNETS (VESPA VELUTINA) IN THE UNITED STATES WAS DETECTED BY A GEORGIA BEEKEEPER, NEAR THE MAJOR PORT OF SAVANNAH, GA. YELLOW-LEGGED HORNETS ARE A MAJOR PREDATOR OF MANAGED HONEY BEES,APIS MELLIFERA, WHERE THEY CAN SERIOUSLY WEAKEN HIVES BY INTERCEPTING RETURNING FORAGERS AND DEPLETE COLONY NUMBERS. YELLOW-LEGGED HORNETS ARE A SIGNIFICANT PROBLEM IN OTHER PARTS OF THEIR INVASIVE RANGE, FOR EXAMPLE FRANCE WHERE ESTIMATES SUGGEST THAT WITHOUT CONTROL, UP TO 30% ADDITIONAL COLONY LOSSES AND €‎30MILLION IN DIRECT ANNUAL LOSSES TO THE BEEKEEPING INDUSTRY MAY BE ATTRIBUTABLE TO THIS INVASIVE. THE BEEKEEPING INDUSTRY IS A CRITICAL PART OF GEORGIA'S, AND THE UNITED STATES', AGRICULTURAL SYSTEM, AND IS ALREADY EMBATTLED DUE TO NUMEROUS THREATS. FURTHER, YELLOW-LEGGED HORNETS PREY UPON OTHER NON-APISSPECIES INCLUDING POLLINATORS, THREATENING ECOSYSTEM FUNCTION, CONSERVATION EFFORTS, AND POLLINATION SERVICES. CONTROL AND ERADICATION EFFORTS ARE UNDERWAY, LED BY THE GEORGIA STATE DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. THIS PROJECT SUPPORTS THOSE EFFORTS BY GENERATING INVASION FRONT FORECASTS, ESTIMATING POSSIBLE RANGE EXPANSION LIMITS, AND PROVIDING ECONOMIC DAMAGE ASSESSMENTS IF CONTROL FAILS. ADDITIONALLY, THIS PROJECT WILL BEGIN GENETICALLY DOCUMENTING THE INVASION BIOLOGY AND ECOLOGICAL IMPACTS OF THIS NEW INVASIVE IN GEORGIA, WITH A VIEW TO PREPARING FOR SCENARIOS WHERE CONTAINMENT FAILS. FINALLY, THIS PROJECT ALSO DIRECTLY SUPPORTS THE MONITORING AND ERADICATION EFFORTS BY EXPERIMENTALLY TESTING DIFFERENT BAIT-TRAP APPROACHES TO MONITORING AND NEST TRIANGULATION, AS WELL AS ESTABLISHING A BEEKEEPER-LED MONITORING NETWORK OF TRAINED AND PREPARED APICULTURISTS, EXTENSION AGENTS, AND COLLABORATING PARTNERS IN NEIGHBORING STATES.