Tours, France - CNRS / IRBI

The persistence in Europe of the invasive Yellow-legged hornet has inspired the development of control methods, but, none of them are simultaneously bio-friendly and efficient. As a result, there is an urgent need to develop bio-control methods for limiting the hornet’s negative impacts.
  • 2019 - 2020. In this work, we bring encouraging findings and a real step forward in the current fight against the Vespa Velutina.
Our goal was to identify hornet-specific compounds that could eventually be used as selective bait in mass-trapping methods. First, we wished to further clarify the composition of the alarm pheromone of V. velutina nigrithorax workers in the European invasive population and to characterize its ability to attract/repulse congeners. Second, we assessed possible differences in the composition of venom gland compounds among queens, foundresses, gynes, and workers.
  • 2021 - 2022. ThermoFrelon: thermal destruction of Asian hornet colonies (Academic Innovation and Technology Transfer)
The ThermoFrelon project, in collaboration with two companies, is based on the results of the previous project (2019). The idea is to apply this strategy, not at the scale of individual hornets, but at the scale of entire nests. Our technology consists in applying strong heat in the nest to be destroyed. This heat will be conveyed by steam, in order to ensure rapid propagation in the entire nest. During the ThermoFrelon project, we tested and developed a destruction device mainly on colonies. The goal was to (1) test the diffusion of steam in a sample of empty nests, (2) test the first device on nests inhabited by hornets, (3) develop the protocol of elimination of a colony and then validate a specification (Collaboration with DR. FLORIAN BASTIN & DR. ERIC DARROUZET | IRBI).
  • 2019. Goal : Characterizing thermal tolerance, of different sexes, castes, and developmental stages, of the invasive Vespa velutina nigrithorax to different heat exposure systems employing a range of temperature levels.

Australia, NT - CSIRO.
  • 2017 (March to Jul.) Darwin (Australia). Can diet supplementation alter brood production and worker size distributions of colony-founding queens in Solenopsis geminata?

  • 2015 - Territory Wildlife Park - Field work: Control bush fire (2 days), Inventory of the ant assemblage and ant collection (2 days), Assessment of the termites species (2 days), Pheidole megacephala ant eradication (2 days). (CSIRO Ecosystem Sciences, Territory Wildlife Park, NT Government, Darwin - Australia).

  • 2015 - Howards Springs NP - Field work (5 days). Inventory of the ant assemblage and ant collection. (CSIRO Ecosystem Sciences, NT Government, Darwin - Australia).

  • Nov 2014 - March 2016 - Lab work (18 months). Foraging behaviour of ants - Ant Encounters. The role of nutrition in determining individual and group patterns of behaviour. (CSIRO Ecosystem Sciences, Darwin - Australia).

Rennes - France

  • September 2013 to August 2014 - Lab work (6 months). Characterizing volatiles (primary and secondary root and leaf Metabolites) in wild cabbage. (IGEP, Rennes – France).

Tiwi island - Australia

  • June 2015 - Tiwi – Field work (1 week) to examine the biophysical and economic potential of fire management for greenhouse gas abatement on the Tiwi Islands (Tiwi Land Ranger, Tiwi Land Council, CSIRO Ecosystem Sciences, Darwin - Australia).

Niau, French Polynesia - France

  • March to May 2012 - Niau Atoll – Lab experience (2 months) - Inventory of the ant assemblage & Morphological identification of Rat’s, Lizard’s and Bird’s prey – (French Polynesia, IMBE – France).

Mediterranean Ecosystems

Arthropod assessment

  • July 2012 & 2013 – “Les Embiez Island” and “Grand Rouveau Island” - Field work (2 weeks) on the Mediterranean islands of “Les Embiez” and “Le Grand Rouveau”. Inventory of the Ant Assemblage and Assessment of the distribution of the invasive Argentine ant. (IMBE – France).

  • August / September 2011 - “Bagaud Island” (national park) - Field work (5 weeks) on the Mediterranean islands of Bagaud (natural reserve). Eradication as scientific experiments: progress in simultaneous eradication of two major invasive taxa from a Mediterranean island. Trapping, cervical dislocation, rat dissection and pest control chemicals. (IMBE, Port-Cros National Park – France).

  • May, June & July 2010/2011/2012 – “Îles d’Or Archipelagos” - Field work (8 weeks) on the Mediterranean islands of Port-Cros (national park) and Porquerolles (NP). Inventory of the Ant Assemblage: Species Composition and Assessment of Sampling Methods. Assessment of the distribution of the invasive Argentine ant. (IMEP – France).

  • 2009 / 2010 / 2011 - Frioul and Riou Archipelagos (national park) – Field work (7 weeks) - Conservatoire-Etudes des Ecosystèmes de Provence, Marseille offshore islands. Inventory of the Ant Assemblage: Species Composition, distribution of the invasive Argentine ant and Assessment of Sampling Methods. (IMEP – France)

Eradications

  • June 2012 – Tiboulain de Maïre – Field work (4 days) on the Mediterranean island Tiboulain de Maïre (N.P.) Trapping, cervical dislocation of rats and pest control chemicals. (IMBE, PIM, Calanques National Park – France)

  • July & August 2012 - Field work (8 weeks) on the Mediterranean island Porquerolles (N.P.) to assess chemical bait (Imidacloprid Gel Bait) in Argentine ant (Linepithema humile) control (IMBE – France).
  • May, June & July 2011/2012/2013 - Field work (3 weeks) on the Mediterranean islands of Bagaud (natural reserve). “Ant and Arthropod diversities assessment before the eradication of two major invasive taxa: Rattus rattus and Carpobrotus spp.” (IMBE – France).

X-Ray tomography
  • 2018 - 2019. Self-organized subterranean architectures, wood excavation dynamics and nest constructions in two Reticulitermes termite species.

  • Apr. 2008 – Tours – Lab work (2 months). X-ray Computed Tomography (CT). Building behaviour analyzed by X-ray tomography in two subterranean termite species. (IRBI, Tours University – Tours, France).