Picture this: you just got back from your summer vacation, where you had a great time. You step out onto your patio or into your backyard and look up. There, hanging underneath your rain gutter is a basketball sized grey wasp nest. This is not going to end well. Wasps love Arizona pools as well and they will set up shop on your roof in Phoenix once the hot weather hits.
There are over 30,000 different species of wasps, and they all build nests. We have over 4,000 varieties in the United States alone. Wasps create their papery homes with wood fibers scraped with their hard mandibles and chewed into a pulp. Social wasp colonies are started by a fertilized queen who survived the winter by hibernating somewhere warm. She builds a small nest and starts a beginner group of worker females, who then take over expanding the nest. The queen lays her eggs in the multiple cells, and by the end of summer if left unchecked, the colony can be well over 5,000 strong.
Paper wasps, hornets and yellow jackets are the formidible colony builders that we are most familiar with. They are members of the family Vespidae, which are a stinging wasp. Their brightly colored bodies serve as a warning to unsuspecting humans who have the audacity to disturb their nests. Unlike bees, wasps can sting repeatedly. You can tell a wasp apart from the normal honey bee by the shape of their body. Wasps have a pointed lower abdomen, separated from the thorax by a narrow “waist” or petiole.
Anyone who has tried to knock down a wasp nest can find themselves quickly swarmed. A wasp in distress sends out a pheromone that sends all the other colony members into defense mode. They swarm in a angry, stinging frenzy. Wasps sting to defend themselves and defend their nest. Unlike bees, their stinger is like a lance, without barbs. They can pull their stinger out without harming themselves, and thus sting again and again. When they sting, they inject a poisonous fluid that can cause pain and immediate swelling. Some people are allergic to the venom and can have a much more severe reaction, even death.
Wasps are actually quite beneficial for the environment. While bees pollinate and create honey, wasps kill other harmful insects such as mites and spiders. Every insect serves a valuable role in the ecosystem. Unless the nest is located in an area where it will constantly be disturbed like your yard or close to garbage containers, it is best to leave it alone. Never try to knock down an active wasp nest by yourself. Enlist the aid of a pest control expert to avoid the dangerous and painful experience of multiple attacks by a swarm of angry wasps.
If you need you Wasp Pest Control company in Phoenix or Mesa, AZ call Atomic Pest Control Experts for help at 480-832-8888
