Mapping a potential threat to the Mexican agricultural sector: The Asian Giant Hornet Vespa mandarinia (Smith 1852) (Hymenoptera: Vespidae)

Abstract

The Asian giant hornet represents a threat to the global agricultural sector, as it is a species with predatory and invasive behavior that directly affects honey bees (Apis melifera), the main pollination agents of fruit trees, vegetables and seed production. The objective of the research was to develop a spatial diagnosis of the health risk associated with Vespa mandarinia Smith due to its possible impact on the Mexican agrifood sector. For this purpose, economically important crops were identified, grouped by pollination percentage and the potential distribution of the Asian giant hornet was identified using the maximum entropy model. The resulting health risk cartographic model allowed the identification of areas with different health risk indices (low, medium, high and very high), as well as the definition of priority areas spatially represented in quadrants and agri-food clusters at risk (clusters). These results are presented as a geotechnological tool that can strengthen the planning of epidemiological surveillance in Mexico, which has the potential to contribute to the establishment of preventive strategies to address the health risk posed by V. mandarinia to the Mexican agricultural sector.