Oriental hornet, Vespa orientalis attacks the Italian and Carniolan virgin queens during mating flights [electronic resource].

Includes references.

This study was carried out at a private apiary in Meat-Fares Village, Bani Ebaied Region, El-Dakhlia Governorate, Egypt, 25 km. from Mansoura. in the period from first of February, 2011 to the end of September, 2013 to investigate the influence of Oriental hornet (Vespa orienta/is) attacks on mating of virgin queens. Results could be summarized as follows: Average of Vespa orientalis wasps was (0, 15 and 64 wasp/trap/day) in March, May and September respectively. Average of Garnica queens (Apis mellitera carnica) lost during mating was (4.17±5.89) in March, (6.00±2.83) in May and (34.00±2.83) in September. There was a high significant difference between the average of lost queens in September and the other two months (P<0.05). Average of Italian queens (Apis me/litera ligustica) lost during mating was (2.18±3.08) in March, (20.00±5.66) in May and (90.00±2.83) in September. There was a high significant difference between the averages of lost queens in the three months (P<0. 05). The highest average of wasps was recorded in September (64) followed by May (15) while there was no wasps trapped in March. The highest loss of virgin queens during mating in the two races was in September followed by May while the lowest loss was in March. The (T- Test) value for the difference between the two races was (t=1.252) while there was a significant difference on the average of lost queens between the two groups. Also there was a high positive relation between the average of queen loss and the average of wasps in the apiary and the relation was highest in Italian queens than in Garnica queens.

Summary in Arabic.

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