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Il 31 luglio 2019 termina il progetto pilota europeo LIFE STOPVESPA che per 4 anni si è occupato del contenimento della specie aliena invasiva Vespa velutina in Italia.

Una strategia di controllo per la Vespa velutina, un radar per il tracciamento del volo dei calabroni, oltre 2.100 nidi individuati e rimossi in Liguria, 76 milioni di api salvate, sono alcuni dei risultati che saranno presentati dallo staff di LIFE STOPVESPA durante la Conferenza Stampa del 19 luglio 2019 (ore 11:30), presso la Sala Trasparenza della Regione Liguria, in Piazza De Ferrari 1 (Genova).

A luglio 2019, dopo 4 anni di lavori, si conclude il progetto europeo LIFE STOPVESPA (LIFE14 NAT/IT/001128 STOPVESPA “Spatial containment of Vespa velutina in Italy and establishment of an Early Warning and Rapid Response System”), finanziato dallo strumento LIFE della Commissione Europea. Tutte le attività sviluppate dal 2015 ad oggi e i principali risultati raggiunti dal progetto sono riassunti nel Layman’s report, disponibile in allegato.

The event “Vespa velutina and other invasive invertebrates species”, organized by the COLOSS Velutina Task Force and by the LIFE STOPVESPA project, has been held in Turin from the 21st to the 23rd of March. The event allowed to share the knowledge about the presence of Vespa velutina in Europe and to present the results obtained by the LIFE STOPVESPA Project during four years of activity in Italy.

“Vespa velutina and other invasive invertebrates species” is the event organized by the LIFE STOPVESPA Project and the Velutina Task Force of COLOSS that will be held in Turin (Italy) the 21, 22 and 23 of March 2019. The 21st of March the programme foresee the COLOSS Velutina Task Force Meeting reserved to members of the COLOSS Association.

“Vespa velutina and other invasive invertebrates species”, this the title of the event organized by the LIFE STOPVESPA Project and the Velutina Task Force of COLOSS that will be held in Turin (Italy) the 21, 22 and 23 of March 2019.

The Geo&Geo edition of last Monday (1st October 2018) provided the occasion to bring the Asian hornet to the attention of a large audience. During the TV-programme Prof. Marco Porporato, leader of the European project LIFE STOPVESPA, briefly described the main morphologic characteristics of this species, the colonized areas, the spread modalities and the level of aggressivity.

One year has passed after the first record in 2017 and Vespa velutina is now causing new concern among beekeepers, not only in the area of La Spezia but also in the neighbouring Tuscany.

During the last months we received some records about insects misidentified that were confused with Vespa velutina. In Italy, there are 23 species of social wasps and a wide variety of other insects species. Often their colours and fling behaviours could trick an unexperienced observer. One of the most common case of misidentification is linked to Megascolia maculata flavifrons (Fabricius, 1775) (photo).