Nothing ruins a summer evening picnic more reliably than the arrival of always angry and ready-to-sting wasps. With over 100,000 wasp species all over the world, these insects are an important, albeit very unfriendly, part of the ecosystem around us.
Wasps types are divided into solitary and colony wasps. The majority of wasps we encounter in our area live in colonies. All wasps are part of the order Hymenoptera, sharing this distinction with bees, ants, and a number of other insects. They are predatory and will hunt down spiders, multipedes, and other insects to bring back to their nest to feed the larvae. Adult wasps feed primarily on nectar and honeydew. Wasp larva is the only insect larvae that will hunt and eat other insects.
Wasps are important pollinators for a number of trees and plants and keep the number of insects down around the area they make a home in. An unfortunate side effect of wasps' nature is their aggressive behavior. Wasps will readily sting a threat or an intruder while protecting themselves or the area around the nest. Wasp stings are painful and can result in serious allergic complications.
Let's take a look at the different types of wasps in our area, a few wasp prevention tips, and what approach Rockville pest control professionals recommend to remove a wasp infestation.
Habits And Behaviors Of Common Wasps
With over 100,000 species of wasps in the world, we're lucky only to have a few common types you might run into in Maryland:
- Bold-faced hornets
- Eastern cicada killer wasp
- Yellow jackets
- Mud daubers
- Paper wasps
Eastern cicada killer wasps and mud daubers are solitary wasps, with usually a single female and a few males taking care of a brood of larvae. Yellow jackets, paper wasps, and bold-faced hornets are communal wasps with colonies ranging from less than a hundred paper wasps to thousands of workers in a yellow jacket colony.
Some Wasps Are More Aggressive Than Others
While most insects will try to defend themselves when threatened or see a threat to their young, wasps take that to a whole new level. To many types of wasps and hornets, a simple presence of a human in the vicinity of the nest is enough to instigate an attack.
Attacking wasps will repeatedly sting, causing a great deal of pain and possible allergic reactions in people so predisposed. In our area, the most aggressive wasps are communal types, with yellow jackets leading the pack and becoming a serious threat in late summer and early fall. Bold-faced hornets, while not as aggressive, are capable of reaching flesh through layers of clothing. The fearsome-looking cicada killer wasp males, growing up to 2 inches long and often confused for murder hornets (who don't live in our area), can get aggressive during mating season but are unable to sting.
Five Environmentally-Friendly Wasp Prevention Tips
Keeping Rockville stinging insects away from your property is the surest way to avoid getting stung and is usually a simple process:
- Seal cracks and openings in your house walls and window screens
- Keep food covered
- Divert the water away from your walls
- Don't plant sweet-smelling flowers by the house
- Switch outdoor lights to yellow lights
Since wasps can be very aggressive if disturbed, it's best to leave the job of evicting them from your property to professionals.
The Safest Way To Remove A Wasp Infestation From Your Yard
At Womack Pest Control, our extensively trained technicians can identify the wasps infesting your property, recognize their habits, locate the wasp nests, and rid your property of these dangerous insects.
If you're scared to go outside and enjoy your Rockville property because of these aggressive invaders- call us today!