Comparison of Trap Collections and Cost of Commercially Available and Homemade Yellowjacket (Hymenoptera: Vespidae) Traps in Lake County, California

Yellowjackets are notable pests of humans due to their opportunistic foraging behaviors, painful stings, and potential for causing dangerous allergic reactions. Baited traps provide a useful supplement for controlling yellowjackets compared with nest treatments, which are often dangerous, time consuming, costly, and do little to prevent nuisance interactions between humans and foragers. This study compares three homemade yellowjacket traps and three commercially available traps in Lake County, California, to determine efficacy and cost benefit. Traps were set at five sites and randomly rotated between six plots per site and baits were changed every 2 wk per commercial manufacturer recommendations. Cost benefit was determined using material and bait cost, as well as bait change frequency and overall trap efficacy. Yellowjacket count data were analyzed using a hurdle model. Traps compared included the Rescue! Yellowjacket trap, the Rescue! Wasp, Hornet, and Yellowjacket trap, the Victor Yellowjacket trap, a homemade bottle trap, jar trap, and homemade jug trap. The total number of yellowjackets collected was 33,321. The trap that collected the highest number of yellowjackets was the Rescue! Yellowjacket trap (n = 19,257) and the trap that collected the fewest yellowjackets was the jar trap (n = 65). The Rescue! Yellowjacket trap was the most cost-effective, calculated at approximately $0.40/100 yellowjackets collected. The jar trap was the least cost-effective, calculated at approximately $31.10/100 yellowjackets collected. The Rescue! Yellowjacket trap was overall the most effective and cost-effective trap evaluated for Lake County, California.