Il Guardian pubblica un articolo che descrive una recente scoperta sul comportamento del calabrone asiatico (Vespa velutina) che può essere usata per eliminare la specie, di recente introduzione in Europa e dannosa per le api domestiche.

Il ronzio che il calabrone asiatico emette durante il volo ha una frequenza differente da quella degli altri imenotteri, e questo permette di identificarne i nidi.

Acoustic engineering graduate Sophie Gray, who undertook the research, said: “We observed and measured two Asian hornet nests and a European hornet nest in Jersey before they were destroyed. We found that the fundamental frequency is 125 hertz and that the nest can be detected from about 20 metres away with a directional microphone.

We also recorded European hornets and honeybees to determine if we can differentiate the frequency. The fundamental frequency of the European hornet is about 110 hertz and honeybees about 210 hertz. It was great news to discover that the frequency is unique for each species, so they are distinguishable.