Phil Lester
Te Herenga Waka - Victoria University of Wellington
Invertebrates
Novel tools, technologies and strategies need to be deployed to eradicate biotic threats.
This research is Active
A honey bee with parasitic Varroa mites. This bee is also suffering the effects of the 'Deformed wing virus' which is spread by Varroa. This heavily infected bee will never be able to fly. Image thanks to Phil Lester.
Overview Te Tirohanga Whānui
Many of our current pest control strategies have unintended and detrimental effects on the surrounding environment. For example, heavy reliance on pesticides can result in non-target kill of native or beneficial invertebrates.
We need new tools to effectively control pests while avoiding these unwanted side-effects.
The ‘Novel Tools & Strategies – Invertebrates’ team aims to develop a new, landscape scale, invertebrate pest management tool by 2024.
While working towards this goal, they are partnering with iwi and hapū to understand how new pest control tools and enhance kaitiakitanga and promote tino rangatiratanga.
Highlights Ngā Mahi Whakahirahira
- A survey of key stakeholders in April and May 2020 showed that most people wanted invertebrate eradication research to focus on wasps – particularly those from the Vespula
- The same survey showed the honeybee pest mite Varroa is a valuable research target, because of its huge negative impact on the honey industry and other industries that rely on pollinators.
- Four PhD students have started research into:
- How gene silencing could be used to control the parasitic Varroa
- Next generation Varroa
- How gene drives might be used for Polistes wasp control.
- How gene editing might be used for German wasp control.
- Dr Sara Moylan and Dr Ocean Mercier supervised five summer interns between Victoria University of Wellington and Worcester Polytech Institute, USA. The interns conducted user tests and evaluations of ESAT, an ecological management tool.
This work building on previous BioHeritage research into wasp eradication.
Co-leads Ngā kaiārahi ngātahi
Te Herenga Waka - Victoria University of Wellington
Ocean Mercier
Ngāti Porou
Te Herenga Waka - Victoria University of Wellington
Te Herenga Waka - Victoria University of Wellington
Symon Palmer
Ngāi Te Rangi
Te Herenga Waka - Victoria University of Wellington
Te Herenga Waka - Victoria University of Wellington
Team Members Ngā kaimahi
- Joshua Gilligan; University of Otago
- Gemma McLaughlin; University of Otago
- Zoe Smeele; Victoria University of Wellington
- Rose McGruddy; Victoria University of Wellington
Research Partners Ngā hoa pātui rangahau
- Te Herenga Waka – Victoria University of Wellington
- University of Otago
- BioHeritage Governance & Policy team
- Genomics Aotearoa
- Wasp Tactical Group
- US commercialisation companies
Resource outputs from this programme
Webinar
Pest control perceptions: comparing pesticides with next-generation control methods
In our part of the BioHeritage National Science Challenge we have been investigating the use of next-generation pest control technologies, with a focus on RNA…
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Scale and complexity implications of making New Zealand predator-free by 2050
The goal to make New Zealand predator-free by 2050 has drawn strong praise and criticism, but these critiques have focused largely on economic or technological…
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Can immune gene silencing via dsRNA feeding promote pathogenic viruses to control the globally invasive Argentine ant?
Pest control methods that can target pest species with limited environmental impacts are a conservation and economic priority. Species-specific pest control using RNA interference is…
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Gene silencing for invasive paper wasp management: Synthesized dsRNA can modify gene expression but did not affect mortality
Invasive paper wasps such as Polistes dominula are a major pest and problem for biodiversity around the globe. Safe and highly targeted methods for the control of…
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Gene drive and RNAi technologies: a bio-cultural review of next-generation tools for pest wasp management in New Zealand
There is a global need for novel, next-generation technologies and techniques to manage pest species. We review work on potential step-changing technologies for large landscape…
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Hōhā Riha: Pest Insect Control in Māori Tradition
Ongoing Māori connections to natural environments mean that tangata whenua ‘people of the land’ and mātauranga Māori ‘Māori knowledge’ must be key to identifying, designing…
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Viral communities in the parasite Varroa destructor and in colonies of their honey bee host (Apis mellifera) in New Zealand
The parasitic mite Varroa destructor is a leading cause of mortality for Western honey bee (Apis mellifera) colonies around the globe. We sought to confirm the presence…
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Ecological State Assessment Tool (ESAT): a cross-cultural natural resource management tool from Aotearoa, New Zealand
A cross-cultural approach to conservation and natural resource management will enable resource managers to access the full potential of dual knowledge epistemologies and facilitate genuine…
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Experimental high-density trapping of social wasps: target kairomones for workers or gynes for drones?
Social wasps are amongst the most loathed exotic predators in New Zealand, with widespread adverse impacts on native ecosystems and fauna. Sustainable alternatives to pesticides…
Publication
Alternatives for mammal pest control in New Zealand in the context of concerns about 1080 toxicant (sodium fluoroacetate)
The ongoing use of 1080 toxin for the control of mammal pests in New Zealand remains highly contentious. Several reviews over the last 25 years…
Publication
The use of AI (artificial intelligence) in New Zealand for the sorting of images and classification of animal pest species
This report has been commissioned by the Biological Heritage Challenge to review the current development and use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) for sorting and classifying…
Publication
Towards rangatiratanga in pest management? Māori perspectives and frameworks on novel biotechnologies in conservation
We gathered Māori perspectives on novel biotechnological controls for pest wasps through three distinct studies. Study participants included tertiary students, businesses, and spiritual or religiously…
Publication
Biotechnologies in pest wasp control: taking the sting out of pest management for Māori businesses?
Māori businesses occupy primary industries said to benefit from wasp control. A Māori-centered mixed-method study gauged the perceptions of eight Māori businesses about the potential…
Publication
The potential for a CRISPR gene drive to eradicate or suppress globally invasive social wasps
CRISPR gene drives have potential for widespread and cost-efcient pest control, but are highly controversial. We examined a potential gene drive targeting spermatogenesis to control…
Publication
High-Quality Assemblies for Three Invasive Social Wasps from the Vespula Genus
We sequenced and annotated the genomes of the common wasp (Vespula vulgaris), German wasp (Vespula germanica), and the western yellowjacket (Vespula pensylvanica). Our chromosome-level Vespula assemblies each…
Media
The cutting-edge technology that could take the sting out of summer
Wasps are a plague every summer, the unwelcome harasser at your picnic or tramping rest stop. Kathryn from Radio New Zealand talks to Gemma McLaughlin,…
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