Vanishing Nests
Only a year ago, an Auburn University research entomologist encountered a phenomenon that beggared description — 16 super-sized yellow jacket nests throughout central and south Alabama.
By the end of the summer, the number of reported nests increased to more than 80. Auburn researcher Dr. Charles Ray speculates there probably were hundreds more undetected nests throughout the state. One nest collector spotted 10 of these nests in Lowndes County alone, while an Alabama Cooperative Extension System agent in Covington County reported as many as 25 nests.
Why were these gigantic nests considered such oddities? Because entomologists such as Ray could go an entire career without seeing scarcely one of these huge nests.
This year, though, the nests seem to have vanished as quickly as dissipating clouds. Working closely with Alabama Extension agents and other monitors throughout the state, Ray hasn’t turned up so much as one nest this year.
“The summer of 2006 may prove to be a once in a lifetime opportunity,” say Ray, who considers the discovery of the nests one of the high points of his career.
So what accounts for this once in a lifetime occurrence? Ray speculates it had to do with an unusually mild 2006 winter.
“The mid-20s was about as cold as it got that year — only about a day or two of really cold weather,” says Ray, adding that this extremely mild winter probably established optimal conditions for the yellow jackets the following spring.
The most recent winter, though, started off with a bang — or a snap, in this case — with temperatures plummeting into the teens in early December. Ray thinks this unusually early cold snap accounts for why these super-sized nests weren’t turned up at all in 2007.
While Ray can only speculate, he says the presence of these super-sized nests may teach a valuable lesson about global climate change, if such a phenomenon is occurring.
“If we had extremely mild winters on a consistent basis we possibly could see these super-sized wasps nests very frequently,” he says.
For a researcher who has spent most of his career quietly working to advance the boundaries of his discipline, 2006 marked a major change of pace for Ray.
By the end of the summer he had completed interviews with media outlets throughout the world. Recently, pictures he had taken of the nests were featured in the French entomological journal, INSECTES.
Despite this year’s dramatic change, Ray still is trying to learn all he can about the nests and encourages homeowners and others who encounter one of these nests to contact their local Extension office before treating it. He and fellow researchers still want to collect data from any nests that may turn up in the future to gain a clearer picture of what is causing them and how they are best treated.
Posted by Jim Langcuster at September 26, 2007 05:28 PM