Ecotoxicity of bioinsecticides to social wasps

Social wasps can be exceptionally invasive in both natural and urban environments, posing significant challenges to biodiversity conservation efforts and human health. On the other hand, they provide a wide variety of ecosystem services unnoticed by most, such as predation of pest species and pollination, and should be included among beneficial insects. As a result, despite the growing interest in the long-term impacts of biological control agents like biopesticides on ecologically important insects, social wasps are either not evaluated as taxa suffering from ecotoxic effects or, in some cases, are the target species themselves. Aside from this dichotomy, experimental evidence of the effects of biopesticides on these insects is scarce. Keeping in mind these two opposite aspects of social wasps, this review analyzed the existing knowledge of the effects of biopesticides on social wasps, highlighting the current knowledge gaps. • Social wasps can both be considered harmful pests and valuable ecosystem service providers. • Current knowledge on the effects of biopesticides on social vespids is scarce. • Social wasps are not included in risk assessment protocols either as target or non-target species. • Reported effects and knowledge gaps on biopesticide impact on social wasps are summarized.