Trialling NoPests wasp trap and lure

March 2026

In mid-March I put a wasp trap out to see if I could capture common and German wasp drones (males) and new queens to reduce the effectiveness of their mating, which happens in the second half of March. I only see one or two vespula wasps around the garden and I assume we are right on the edge of the range of the local wasp nest, wherever it may be.

I bit the bullet and bought one litre of NoPests® wasp lure. It is too expensive for most domestic use, but the lady who manages pest control stock in my local Mitre 10 said they flew off the shelves when she first stocked a dozen of them and then it was difficult to get more stock. I took the advice of Dean Osborne, who has been doing a great job of keeping Glenfield residents informed about the yellow-legged hornets, and watered it down, because I want to save it mostly for next spring when the queens emerge from hibernation. I used the lure in the NoPests® wasp dome trap, which I already had.

NoPests wasp trap hung in a sunny spot close to where I see wasps on the rose arch

Within an hour there were two vespula wasps caught. Amazing! Within two hours they had both escaped. Not so amazing.

After five days there were quite a lot of bodies in the liquid. So you know, I used less liquid than the recommended amount. I promise I do normally follow instructions, but as this was a punt, I was economical. I sieved the lure and then I took a look at what had been caught.

Targets:

• 4 paper wasps - two European and two Australian

• 31 vespula wasps, both common and German

Hornets

The good news is no hornets. Given the propensity for all sorts of wasps to turn up in my garden, I was waiting for the hornets to spread in from Birkdale at some point over the summer, but they haven't.

Paper wasps

The NoPests® wasp lure specifically says not for paper wasps. Four paper wasps in a garden that has (I don't know, I'm guessing) 50 paper wasps knocking around now at peak time shows there is no effective lure for paper wasps, but honestly, I was impressed there were any in the trap. Indeed a vespula wasp and an Australian paper wasp were fighting each other for the chance of being on the trap once it was put back out. I think, in tipping the lure out to sieve it and back in again, there may have been a few dried dribbles, which is what the wasps were after. I can't tell the difference in the sex of paper wasps, so if these are males it will make no difference, but if they are next year's queens, that's four less nests being started. I would take that number as a win.

Vespula wasps

I thought we only had one or two vespula wasps around. Over 30 wasps in five days is mind-blowing for me, especially as there were both German wasps and common wasps. That means there are two nests somewhere nearby. However, I didn't get to capture any drones or queens, which was the point of putting the lure out. I simply mopped up the sterile workers who would die off in a few weeks anyway. Perhaps I've got the timing of mating wrong. I took it from the Landcare Research website, see lifecycle graphic above, but as this must be an average across the country, mating may have already taken place in Auckland and I've missed my shot.

By-catch:

• A heap of flies

• A green lacewing

• An admiral butterfly

• A fungus ladybird

• Three moths - one of which I rescued before it drowned

By-catch is expected and I should point out that the lure lived up to its promise of not being attractive to bees. However, a butterfly is a definite mark against the trap design, especially in a butterfly garden. It was likely one of the yellow admirals I released in the past week. Two of the moths were Northern Wattles, a self-introduced Australian moth, which is big. It has a wing span of 80mm. AI tells me there are only five species of moth in New Zealand with bigger wingspans out of the 2,000 known species. If these moths can fly into a trap, there's something wrong with the trap.

Conclusion

Whilst I can't say if autumn trapping of new queens is worthwhile yet, It was quickly apparent that even watered down or in smaller than recommended quantities, the NoPests® pink wasp lure is incredibly effective. I've tried other commercially available and homemade lures that didn't work, showing wasp lures are definitely something where you get what you pay for. This definitely works and works well. If you are serious about controlling wasps without poison and can afford the price, I highly recommend it.

As for the NoPests® dome wasp trap, it is easy to use, is rain-proof, visually appealing and easy to clean. However, it simply does not trap wasps effectively enough. With an entrance that butterflies and moths can get through, and wasps can easily escape from, I cannot recommend it. If the entrance could be narrowed, it might make all the difference.