The suppressive potential of a gene drive in populations of invasive social wasps is currently limited.

ABSTRACT: Social insects are very successful invasive species, and the continued increase of global trade and transportation has exacerbated this problem. The yellow-legged hornet, Vespa velutina nigrithorax (henceforth Asian hornet), is drastically expanding its range in Western Europe. As an apex insect predator, this hornet poses a serious threat to the honey bee industry and endemic pollinators. Current suppression methods have proven too inefficient and expensive to limit its spread. Gene drives might be an effective tool to control this species, but their use has not yet been thoroughly investigated in social insects. Here, we built a model that matches the hornet's life history and modelled the effect of different gene drive scenarios on an established invasive population. To test the broader

SUBMITTER: Meiborg AB 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9886928 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature