Search the SPREP Catalogue

This paper presents an annotated inventory of the alien social wasps (Hymenoptera: Vespidae: Polistinae, Vespinae) of the South Pacific Oceanic islands, excluding Australia and Papua New Guinea. Here we include information on invasive social wasp distribution, known introductions and establishment dates, and notes on their invasive ecology. Introduced social wasps in the South Pacific consist of 11 species belonging to the Polistinae (Polistes: n = 7) and Vespinae (Dolichovespula: n = 1; Vespa: n = 1; Vespula: n = 2), nine of which are known to have established across the Pacific. Introduced species were recorded in nine countries and territories (Cook Islands, Easter Island, French Polynesia, Fiji, New Caledonia, New Zealand, Niue, Samoa, and Tonga), with the earliest records having happened between the 19th century and the present day. We also provide novel commentary on the ongoing and recently detected incursion of Vespa velutina (an established and impactful invasive species in Europe) into New Zealand. This inventory provides a resource to further understand the invasion biology of social insects and to scaffold risk modelling and management efforts for a taxon of impactful invasive predators in a severely understudied area.

PACC reports

This Samoa Climate Public Expenditure and Institutional Review (CPEIR) is one of five pilot CPEIRs that test a new methodology for reviewing public expenditure related to climate change, including both adaptation and mitigation, and the way in which this is guided by policy and managed by institutions. The five pilots are being coordinated by UNDP and undertaken by ODI with national and international experts, working closely with governments. The Samoan CPEIR took place be-tween March and May 2012.

Reports from the PACC project

Technical report