One of the scariest experiences you can have while enjoying your outdoor property usually begins with a buzz. You suddenly realize what the sound is and become alarmed, swinging your head left and right, and shooing away things you can’t see. As the noise gets louder, you feel tiny spikes of pain on your exposed skin and take off towards your home as fast as you can. It has happened so quickly; you aren’t even sure what attacked you, but you know it’s time to call for the professionals at Fortified Pest Control.
When you think of stinging insects, chances are one of the first examples that pop into your head are wasps, and with good reason. Outside of the bee family, many commonly encountered stinging insects, like bald-faced hornets and yellow jackets, are actually species of wasp. Wasps, like bees, are social creatures and their colonies live in nests that the workers build. Some people incorrectly think that wasps are a type of bee, but outside of a few similarities, such as having wings and both being members of the order Hymenoptera, they are two very different species.
Paper Wasps, in particular, strip wood from the external surfaces of nearby sources like fence posts, garden sheds, or wooden furniture, chew it up, and mix it with their saliva to create a paper-mâché-like substance. Then they form it into shape to create their new home. Their colony is divided into two main castes, the workers and those responsible for reproducing, the drones. The drones are fertile, healthy males, and the workers are unmated females. Besides feeding and taking care of the young, the workers are also responsible for guarding the community and other general housekeeping around the nest.
Wasps are omnivores, and their diets consist of nectar, caterpillars, spiders, flies, and other bugs. They don’t store food inside the nest because they don’t have a way to prevent their haul from spoiling. Instead, they chew their prey until it is a paste and then feed it to the babies, called larvae. The larvae produce a nutritional fluid as they digest the paste, which in turn feeds the adults.
Unlike many insect species, wasps are known to remain active throughout the year. For a new colony to form, a fertile queen is born. She then leaves the nest with a swarm of workers and finds a suitable place to re-settle. Wasps stings are mainly used as a defense mechanism against potential threats against the nest. They tend to attack in large numbers and because their stinger is not barbed like the bee, one wasp can deliver multiple stings.
Stinging insects, when they’re feeling threatened, can quickly ruin your outdoor activities. Fortunately for residents of northeast Indiana, there’s a company ready to counterattack your unwanted invaders and prevent them from coming back. If you’re in Fort Wayne, Andrews, Columbia City, or the surrounding region,
contact Fortified Pest Control to discuss our services so we can give you an estimate and get started as soon as possible.