How long do wasps live - the family hierarchy of insects. Details about wasp larvae and features of their life cycle

General description: what do wasps look like and what is their structure?

The wasp belongs to the order Hymenoptera, containing several families and species.
People are used to seeing a classic individual with black and yellow stripes on its body. The tree wasp is colored in much the same way. But it can be in other colors. Its body size is 1.5-10 cm. Most of them have membranous wings. There are usually 4 of them. Some types of insects do not have wings. The body has the shape of a spindle or barrel. It is covered with small hairs. There are large eyes on the sides of the head. The wasp's eye is very complex. He can look in different directions at the same time. There are antennae on the head that perform different functions:

they serve as organs of touch and smell;
these antennae are taste buds;
in the process of nest construction, they act as a measuring instrument.

The jaws of the wasp are good at grinding plant food and helping to build a nest. The abdomen of these creatures is separated from the chest by a kind of waist. Thanks to this structure, wasps can fold their own body and sting their prey at an angle to the sting. The wasp's sting is an ovipositor, which is located at the very end of the fusiform abdomen.

The sting has the same serrations as a bee's. But the bees have larger ones. A wasp is an insect that can sting its victim several times in a row. The bee sting remains in the victim's body, after which the bee dies. Insects live in Europe and Russia, Australia and North America, Canada, Argentina and Mexico. They are only absent in the Sahara Desert and the Arctic. The following types of wasps are found on the planet:

paper;
road;
real;
sparkles;
Germans;
burrowing sphecids;
Typhia;
scolias;
floral;
hornets;
sand wasps.

Wasps have a wide variety of species. The size of adult individuals, depending on the species, is 1.5–10 cm, and females can grow up to 16 cm. These insects have generally the same body structure. The common wasp, like its other relatives, has three segments: head, thorax and abdomen.

The insect's head is mobile, transversely elongated. It contains antennae, mouthparts and compound eyes. Between the compound eyes, wasps have 3 poorly developed simple ocelli. The antennae are responsible for recognizing taste, smell, and spatial orientation.

The thorax of insects consists of three connected segments. There are membranous wings on the back. The front pair of wings is slightly longer than the back. The tarsi are 5-segmented, some have digging or grasping tarsi, adapted for collecting pollen. The abdomen consists of 6 segments, the last of which contains a sting.

Internal structure of an insect:

Digestive system. It starts from the oral apparatus and salivary glands, passes into the pharynx, esophagus and chewing stomach, from where food enters the midgut, where it is digested and broken down into simple organic compounds absorbed by the body. The hindgut is divided into the small intestine (where glucose is broken down) and the rectum (where water is absorbed and where feces are formed).
Circulatory system. From the body cavity, through the pores, blood enters the heart, from where it enters the aorta and flows out again into the body cavity, already saturated with nutrients.
Respiratory system. It consists of spiracles through which air enters the trachea, and through their walls into the tissue.
Nervous system. Represents suprapharyngeal, subpharyngeal and abdominal nerve chains.
Excretory system. Formed by the Malpighian vessels, hindgut and fat body (accumulates toxins removed from the blood, but does not remove them).

All wasps are divided into two groups - social and solitary insects. The first form colonies, settle in parks and gardens, build large nests that sometimes weigh several kilograms. For buildings they make a material resembling paper. For this reason, social wasps are called paper wasps. Single individuals can do without nests.

Vespins. They are characterized by alternating black and yellow stripes. These are the most commonly encountered insects. In terms of their lifestyle and hierarchy in families, they are similar to bees. The queen wasp lays eggs and then provides them with food. By early summer, the worker larvae become adults and begin to build honeycombs. In the fall, young females mate and remain in the nest for the winter. The main female dies, and new queen wasps create their own colonies after wintering.
Polistins. This is the most famous wild species of wasp, living in colonies. The family can be headed by several queens at once. Wild polysteens feed on fruit juices, and the larvae are fed the processed remains of dead insects.

Scolia wasp.

Scolia. Flying black bugs with yellow and orange spots on their abdomen. They use the larvae of many pests for reproduction, such as beetles, rhinoceros beetles, etc. Scolia lay their eggs in their bodies.
Typhia. These small wasps are also black in color. Their distinctive feature is their reddish legs. Typhias settle in umbrella plants and live throughout the world.
Road. They are otherwise called pompilidae. Their front legs are digging, which allows them to dig holes. Insects prey on spiders.
Sand. They differ in sexual dimorphism. Males are larger in size than females. The first segment of the abdominal part is red, the rest of the body is black with a blue tint.
German women. Females of this species have no wings, their body is colored red and covered with dark hairs. Males are larger, black or brown in color.
Sparkles. They are distinguished by their original color - green, blue and red at the same time. They parasitize bees and sawflies.

Blestyanka.

Social structure and reproduction

Depending on the species, wasp reproduction may have some differences in details, such as the method of feeding the larvae, but in general the process is the same.

In early spring, the female lays eggs in a nest, burrow, or suitable place created by her.
The first eggs hatch into workers and, if the species so requires, new queens.
Over time, the functions of further nest construction are completely transferred to the grown working individuals, and the queen focuses only on laying new eggs.
Over the course of a year, the hive grows in proportion to the increase in the number of wasps living in it.
Only the queens fertilized before frost survive the winter; all workers and males die.

Before becoming an adult wasp, the insect goes through an egg and larval stage. Worm-shaped whitish larvae are stored in honeycombs, which the wasps make regardless of where the nest is located. Some species feed their offspring by bringing them insects, others initially, along with the egg, place the required amount of food paralyzed by poison in the honeycomb, most often the larvae of other insects, seal the chamber and leave it forever.

What happens if you open a wasp's nest?

Wasps are unique insects. They belong to the order Hymenoptera. This order also includes bees, bumblebees, ants, sawflies and riders. Ants and bees are descendants of ancient wasps. Over the centuries, flower nectar became their food, and the ants lost their wings. Therefore, a wasp on a flower is a fairly common occurrence.

These insects live both alone and in families. This is an insect that is studied by many specialists. They divide these flying creatures into several groups. The flower wasp stands out from them. This is an insect that lives alone. Quite a few individuals belong to the social group. First of all, this is a village wasp. Together with it we can name representatives of paper Hymenoptera. They are the ones most often encountered by summer residents in Russia.

All the nuances of appearance

The wasp belongs to the order of Hymenoptera insects, the suborder of stalked bellies.

The description of the structure of the insect allows it to be classified:

The body consists of three clearly distinguishable segments - the head, thorax and abdomen, which are supported by a strong external chitinous skeleton.
Between the chest and abdomen the insect has a long thin stalk, reminiscent of a narrow “waist”. It is this feature of the waist that defines the suborder. This structure allows the wasps to almost fold their body in half, and also sting the “enemy” from any angle. That is why, in fights with a larger opponent, these insects emerge victorious.
The abdomen of the arthropod is covered with villi and has the shape of either a spindle or a barrel.

The question: how many eyes does a wasp have is not trivially simple. The striped insect, unlike the fly, is very “big-eyed” - the total number is five. On the sides of the head there are two large eyes of the wasp, protruding down beyond the plane of the stigma.

They have a very complex structure - they consist of a huge number of facets. As a result, the arthropod can look in different directions at the same time. At the very top of the head there are three more eyes. The upper part of the head is also decorated with a pair of antennae.

This organ is very multifunctional:

perceives air vibrations;
responsible for the sense of smell;
is an organ of touch;
has taste buds.

In addition, the wasp uses antennas as a measuring tool. When building a nest, she measures each cell with them. On the back of the wasp there are two pairs of membranous wings, which are fastened together. Therefore, visually, it seems that the insect has only one pair of wings. True, some types of wasps do not have wings at all.

Features of some types

Varieties of paper specimens are black and yellow in color. The nests are round and can be found in the attics of buildings and the walls of various buildings. Nests are made from paper produced by the individuals themselves.

The flower wasp is a very small creature, its size reaches no more than 1 cm. They feed on pollen and nectar of various flowers. The flower wasp builds a nest from sand and clay, holding them together with its saliva.

The largest representative of the family is the hornet. Its length can reach 55 mm. Parasitic wasps include glitterweeds. These bright and shiny individuals are accustomed to living on other bees and butterflies. Sand wasps dig holes in the ground to live in. Road views do the same. The food for the larvae is spiders and insects, paralyzed by the poison from the sting of adults.

Scolias look very beautiful. These are insects up to 10 cm long. They look more like butterflies.

Black wasp Typhia. They often settle on the body of the cockchafer. Sometimes they burrow into the ground in search of beetle larvae.

Anatomy of a wasp

Wasps belong to the Hymenoptera, which are the most numerous group of insects, including about 155 thousand species.
A peculiarity of the body structure of these insects is that between the abdomen and the breast there is a thin membrane in the form of a stalk, which contributed to the emergence of such a thing as a “wasp waist”. The body of an insect consists of 3 parts - head, chest and abdomen. Despite the fact that all species differ in body color, colors such as black, yellow and orange are always present. The structural feature of the wings can also be attributed to the distinctive feature of these insects. As a rule, the wings are quite thin and transparent, with clearly visible veins. The hind wings are somewhat shorter than the fore wings. They can shimmer in different colors, but can also be completely colorless. Each wasp leg consists of 5 segments. They perform various functions, including digging.

On the insect's head you can see whiskers of various shapes and lengths. The whiskers also perform various functions, including allowing the insect to navigate in space. The eyes are clearly expressed. Although the jaws do not have teeth, they are powerful enough to bite through the chitinous layer of the insect.

The wasp, like the bee, has a sting, which is located on the underside of the abdomen. As a rule, only females can sting. The sting is quite thin and is connected to a gland that produces poison of varying toxicity. With the help of poison, the wasp protects itself, its young, its nest, and so on.

In the photographs below you can take a closer look at what wasps look like. Wasp larvae are very different in appearance from adult individuals, since they are not pure white caterpillars. These are predatory caterpillars that feed on protein foods.

Where does the wasp live?

Representatives of wasps are widespread throughout the world. They can easily be found in Belarus, Russia, Ukraine, Europe, Africa, Argentina, Canada, Mexico, Australia, China, Japan. Such animals do not live only in the hot Sahara, the Arctic and the Arabian Peninsula. Wasps prefer a temperate climate and cannot exist in regions that are too hot or too frosty.

Interesting fact: A very dangerous species of wasp lives in Japan and China - the Asian hornet. Its size can reach six centimeters. One bite of such an insect is quite enough to kill a person, especially if he is allergic. According to statistics, up to fifty people die every year from the sting of the Asian hornet in these countries.

Most representatives of wasps live in the Northern Hemisphere. Only a small population can be found in Brazil. These insects choose their habitat according to several criteria: temperate climate, presence of trees, humans. The thing is that the human habitat makes it easier for wasps to get their food. The tree is used for building nests and raising larvae. Some individuals build homes from clay and pebbles. Their nests look very much like small castles.

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Types of wasps

Individual specialists study the life of wasps and continue to amaze ordinary people with interesting facts.

Little wasps. They are representatives of social, ordinary species. The body length of the female reaches 20 mm. Drones, workers, males - about 18 mm.
Tree wasp. Includes many varieties, has a bright black and orange color. The size range ranges from 10 to 60 mm. The most dangerous representative of this genus is the hornet, which can be distinguished by its large dimensions. An interesting representative is the synodica wasp, about which there is extremely little information.
Asian hornet. The most dangerous wasp. In China and Japan, 50 people die from bites every year, according to official statistics. For an allergy sufferer, one bite from a giant killer pest can be fatal. The size of the hornet reaches 5.6 cm.
Great spotted scolius. This species is the most beautiful representative of large wasps. The female’s body size is 55 mm, the male’s is 32 mm. Lays larvae on the body of larvae of cockchafers and rhinoceros. Leads a primitive, solitary lifestyle. Despite its impressive size, it is safe for humans. The consequences of the bite are numbness.
German women. Externally, wingless, furry females resemble an ant. Body size does not exceed 30 mm. The female has a bright color, the males of this species are brown in color. They do not build their own nests; they parasitize in the hives of bees and other wasps.

There are extremely many representatives of this species of Hymenoptera in the world, each of them is unique and has its own characteristics.

How long can insects live without food?

Under certain circumstances, wasps can live without food for several months. With the onset of cold weather, males and workers freeze, fertilized females - queens - hide in wooden cracks, under bark, and old hollows. Metabolic processes slow down, the insect stops moving and spending energy. The wasp lives in this state from November to April. It emerges from the state of suspended animation with the first warm days.

During the active season, the common wasp constantly needs food and replenishment of energy reserves. Food for adults is plant nectar, juices of ripe berries, fruits, vegetables, and bee honey. And also lemonade, jam, sugar, kvass, beer, syrup. Wasps live without food for no more than one day, but leaving an insect without food is quite difficult. In an apartment in unnatural conditions, but with food available, the wasp will live for several days, but at the first opportunity it will fly outside.

On especially difficult days, adults are fed by larvae. They regurgitate a special secretion, which the imago licks off. Food for the offspring can be kept in the nest in special chambers in reserve or for “rainy days.”

Burrowing, sand, and earthen wasps provide their larvae with food until the full development cycle. They paralyze the victim with poison - spiders, beetle larvae, butterflies, and lay eggs on their body. Locked in a hole. After a few days, a larva appears and devours the victim alive within 14 days. The larva overwinters in the cocoon state; in the spring, a young individual emerges to the surface, ready for mating and procreation.

Features of character and lifestyle

The largest number of stinging insects appears during the fruit harvest: massive attacks on vineyards and fruit trees are observed at the end of July and until the beginning of September. Until mid-summer there are significantly fewer wasps. In the fall, gardeners destroy empty hives to avoid attracting dangerous insects the following spring. Young fertilized females fly away from the old hive for the winter. Rotten stumps, tree bark, and cracks in buildings serve as their winter quarters.

When hibernating (diapause), the wasp chooses a place protected from temperature changes. In social varieties, working females also leave the nest. By the onset of cold weather, they become lethargic and inactive. Birds die from the onset of cold weather. At a temperature of 15°C, females emerge from hibernation, begin to build a new nest and lay eggs.

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The lifespan of stinging insects depends on their type and position in the family:

males live for two to three months. After mating, they leave the hive and die;
working females live for a month and a half, many die while flying for food;
Female founders of colonies live longer than others. After mating, before the onset of cold weather, they leave the nest, settling in for the winter. Queens live for up to a year, and with a successful choice of hibernation site, for several years.

Where do wasps live?

The “place of residence” of wasps depends on the type and method of feeding. Paper social wasps live in the garden, in attics, under the roof of private houses. They build honeycombs by often deepening the nest into rafter boards or attic flooring. The queen lays one egg in each cell of the honeycomb. Female worker wasps raise and feed the offspring. Males live only until mating.

Most solitary species do not build houses, taking away burrows from spiders, mice, and large insects. They lay eggs in the body of a killed insect and do not care about the offspring, so the life of the larvae is often short: until the first frost or a flying bird.

Reproduction

The female plays a key role in the reproduction of hymenoptera insects. A fertilized individual hibernates in the fall, and with the onset of warm weather it begins to build a new nest and lay eggs in the cells of the honeycomb. One cell ─ one larva. At the initial stages, the queen feeds the offspring with her secretion, fermented remains of insects.

The larvae, having reached the development stage, are sealed in a cell and form a cocoon. At the beginning of summer, working individuals fly out of the cells. Their task is to feed the larvae, from which males and new females, ready for fertilization, will grow in the fall.

What do wasps eat?

The choice of food of a stinging insect depends on its age. Paper wasps obtain food for larvae: fermented body parts of spiders, beetles, caterpillars, butterflies, and slugs. The fermented remains are fed to the young animals, which can only turn their heads. For bees, wasps pose a particular danger during the period of growing larvae: by attacking hives and preying on larvae, they can completely destroy honey reserves.

Important! Insects love fallen fruits that begin to ferment. Therefore, traps for wasps in the garden can be prepared by placing small containers with kvass and beer.

Solitary species mainly lay eggs in the body of beetles and their larvae, providing their own offspring with food for the first time. Mature individuals have a sweet tooth. A large colony can destroy most of the harvest of grapes and plums and significantly damage apples and pears. In autumn, the female accumulates substances that can withstand cold weather, like antifreeze. During the winter period, the insect is in a state of hibernation (diapause), life processes are suspended at this time.

How long do wasps live, depending on the species?

Single wasps in the adult stage can live for about 6 months. The female spends the whole summer reproducing her offspring - digging holes, looking for prey, laying eggs. The rest of the time it flies among flowers and plants, and hides in trees and grass at night. With the onset of persistent cold weather, females and males die. A new generation of sexually mature individuals will appear in the spring.

The lifespan of a paper or social wasp directly depends on gender. The majority of the wasp family consists of working individuals. Their maximum lifespan is 60 days. The wasp society is constantly renewed thanks to the active behavior of the queen, which is able to live much longer.

A sexually mature female continuously lays eggs. At the end of August, special large cells are completed on the side of the nest. There the queen lays special eggs, from which males and sexually mature females are born. Mating takes place in the fall. After which the males die, the young females look for a reliable place for wintering.

At the end of summer, working individuals, having fully fulfilled their functions, devour eggs, underdeveloped larvae, and leave the nest, on the construction of which they worked all summer. With the onset of cold weather, wasps die en masse. According to some data, the old queen dies with them, according to others, she also mates and remains to winter.

Life expectancy of paper wasps - general data:

working individuals – 30-60 days;
males – up to 40 days;
uterus – 1-2 years.

The largest representatives of wasps, hornets, live their lives in a similar way. The queen lives the longest - 1 year.

Lifespan of wasps

How long wasps live usually depends on many factors, but most of all on their hierarchical arrangement in families. Working individuals, as a rule, die the fastest; the life cycle of the queen lasts longer.

The presence of alternating black and yellow stripes along the body is a distinctive feature of wasps. Insects also have membranous wings, antennae, which are also considered respiratory organs, and powerful jaws. Depending on the variety, the dimensions may vary, for example, for a burrowing wasp, a normal length is considered to be from 5 to 20 mm, for a scolius - from 10 to 100 mm.

Important! The presence of poison in these insects is indicated by their bright colors. The sting is an ovipositor with a modified appearance, considered characteristic only of females, they are the ones who are able to attack.

Wasps have never been long-lived. Their life depends on many factors related to the environment and the species. Social families of wasps live according to an internal hierarchy, which affects not only the distribution of responsibilities, but also the period of life. Each individual in the family performs its own functions and is distinguished by its significance. Within families, the following types are distinguished:

queen - manages the colony and lays eggs to raise offspring;
females that are unable to lay eggs are considered worker wasps;
females that can conceive offspring at certain times of the season.

Polista, or paper wasps, are considered popular representatives of the subfamily. Spring is the time for the young queen to find a nest and begin building it. To build a place for offspring, chewed grass and tree bark are used. When summer comes, the first offspring of working insects are born, which resemble the queen, but are smaller in size. Such a brood can live up to two months. Towards mid-September, individuals appear in special cells whose reproduction is capable of producing young wasps.

Polista or paper wasp

When it gets cold and winter comes, the males begin to leave the nests and die. In general, they are able to live up to 3 months. Queens overwinter under the bark of trees, in crevices and grassy debris. Thus, the lifespan of a wasp can extend up to 4 years. In general, the wasp’s life period is associated with warmth, since only certain members of the family are able to survive the winter in frosty conditions.

Lifespan

Various representatives of the wasp family can live from a couple of months to several years. Species and external natural factors influence how long wasps live. Wasps are conventionally divided into solitary and social; their life spans are different.

Social ones live in a strict hierarchical system, like bees. Singles lead an isolated existence.

Uterus

The long-lived female among social wasps of all species lives for several years. All summer, the queen actively replenishes the population of the nest, continuously laying eggs. Towards the end of August, new, large cells for special offspring appear in the nest. From these cells young females and males hatch.

Reproduction of wasps

Different types of wasps reproduce in different ways: some of them lay eggs in individual honeycombs, like bees, and others in the bodies of their potential victims, whom they drag into their burrows located deep in the ground.

Reproduction of social wasps

The queen lays eggs in separate combs and, at the initial stages, takes care of the future offspring independently, obtaining food for them. As soon as the first generation of worker wasps is born, they immediately begin to take care of the nest, as well as the larvae.

After laying the eggs, after a few days, larvae similar to worms emerge from them. The larvae grow quickly, as the adults bring beetles, spiders, flies, larvae of other insects, as well as pieces of meat for them. Over the course of 2 weeks, the larva manages to molt several times, while it noticeably increases in size and finally turns into a pupa. A young wasp emerges and gnaws the cocoon on its own. All this takes almost 3 weeks. Wasps are most active in the summer.

Reproduction of single wasps

Single wasps do not reproduce at the same rate, because to do this they need to find a victim, dig a hole and drag the paralyzed insect into this hole. The wasp lays an egg on the body of the paralyzed victim, climbs out of the hole and buries the hole. At the same time, for each larva it needs to paralyze a potential victim and dig a hole. This doesn't take much time. The larva feeds on the flesh of the victim and then pupates. In the pupal state, it remains in the ground all winter. Such wasps live no more than six months.

Do wasps die after being stung?

Many people believe that a wasp and a bee are insects that have no differences. But this is completely wrong. Not only do they live different lives, but they also attack differently. Here the question arises: who dies after a sting: a bee or a wasp.

The main weapon of wasps is the sting, which is a modified oviposition. During quiet times it is hidden inside. As soon as the insect senses danger, the muscles push it out.

When attacking their prey, wasps pierce the skin with their sting and inject poison. Does a wasp die after being stung? No. Unlike a bee, a wasp can sting more than once. Moreover, after the attack, they calmly continue their life activities. When a predator senses danger, it attacks the prey, then pulls out its sting and flies away. This is due to the smoothness of the sting itself.

Why are wasps needed in nature?

Wasps, unlike their striped relatives, have not received enough respect from people. This is largely due to the fact that few people know what wasps are needed for in nature, because they do not produce honey, sting and even cause allergic reactions. It is quite logical that the question arises what wasps do, and whether they have any benefit for people and the environment.

Benefits from insects

What benefits do wasps bring:

They destroy small bugs. The adult feeds on nectars and fruit juices. The wasp larva must eat protein to develop. To feed their offspring, wasps need to hunt pests, these can be flies, mosquitoes, aphids, spiders and other pests living in the garden;
Destroy the mole cricket. Insects are able to drive the pest out of the ground, then paralyze the victim by injecting poison. Now the paralyzed body of the mole cricket becomes a kind of incubator. All this time, the pest remains alive, does not allow the wasp larvae to die, constantly feeding them with the necessary components. The mole cricket meets death immediately after the last moult;
They pollinate plants and flowers. For full development, many plants need to be pollinated, which wasps do very well;
Used in medicine to fight cancer. Scientists have proven that Brazilian wasps have a poison with a unique composition that helps destroy cancer cells without damaging healthy areas;
Protect weak insects. Knowing about the ability to bite, hunt and show aggression towards other insects, weak individuals took on the colorful color of predatory insects. This is due to a subconscious reluctance to encounter wasps. Stripes save the weak from birds, some types of flies, beetles, butterflies and many others.

Similarities and differences with bees

Wasps and bees live almost identically, unless we are talking about domesticated bees in an apiary. Theoretical data may not coincide with practical data. The sources provide different data.

The age limit for a worker bee is one year. However, insects working in honey production during the warm season die of natural causes after 40 days. In spring and autumn, when activity decreases somewhat, they live up to 60 days. Bees born in the fall tolerate winter well, raise larvae, and live up to 9 months.

The lifespan of bees during the active period from March to October is a maximum of 40 days, the passive period is from November to February, 180 days. Drones live up to 6 months. A queen in the wild can live 5-8 years; beekeepers change queens every 1-2 years; if this is not done, a fertile female will live about 4 years.

In critical conditions, when the queen dies, workers can live 1 month longer than usual.

Where do wasps nest?

The young queen chooses a place where there is building material and food supplies in close proximity. In the wild, insects make their homes on trees with a large, dense crown, under old stumps, and abandoned bird houses. However, there are cases of a hive being built under a stone, on a blade of grass. Where the young female considers it necessary to build housing, the working individuals will continue the construction.

Insects can build hives near humans - under the roof of a house, outbuildings, in an attic, on a balcony, or live in a garden, yard, vegetable garden, or vineyard. And also on trees, bushes, old stumps on the site. If in the wild, wasps bring a lot of benefits, destroying harmful insects, in the territory of a garden, summer cottage, yard, they become real pests. Therefore, a person tries to get rid of wasp nests on a balcony, in a country house, or in a vineyard.

It's very easy to anger a wasp. A few sharp movements are enough for her to rush to attack. During an attack, it makes special sounds - signals, warns other members of society about the danger, and also calls for help. If there is a nest nearby, a whole swarm can attack a person.

Enemies

Wasps are killed ahead of time by insecticides used by humans to combat various agricultural and forest pests, directly against wasp families. Among the main enemies of common wasps are hornets, as well as some species of birds. In autumn, inactive insects are eaten by animals, spiders, and large beetles.

The lifespan of the wasp family also depends on weather conditions. Nests and hives are destroyed by floods, forest fires, and premature frosts. A wasp can live genetically for a long time, but in practice the lifespan is shortened several times.

There are a huge number of wasp species in the world, which differ in lifestyle, behavior and appearance. They can be divided into two groups, which determine the main characteristics - social and solitary wasps. These insects have become a familiar environment during the warm season. They can be annoying and often aggressive, which is why people find such a neighborhood unpleasant. How long wasps live depends on their position in the family hierarchy. Working individuals die quickly, but queens live longer.

Features and habitat

Wasp - belongs to the order Hymenoptera, and the suborder Stalk-bellied.

Wasps include insects such as:

real;
sand;
wasps - shiners;
road;
scolias;
wasps are German;
Typhia;
floral;
burrowing;
paper;
hornet.

The wasp is an insect whose body is colored with stripes of black and yellow. The length of the insect (depending on the species) ranges from 2 cm to 3.5 cm. There are two pairs of wings on the back, but since the hind wings are tightly linked to the front wings, it seems that there are only two wings.

Wasp stings are painful, accompanied by swelling, and can cause a serious allergic reaction. At the same time, unlike bees, wasps do not leave a sting.

The eyes of this insect consist of many facets that allow you to look in different directions at the same time, and protrude down beyond the plane of the stigma.

In addition to the complex, compound eyes, the wasp has three more eyes, which are located at the very top of the head. It’s hard to believe that such a small insect is so big-eyed, but if you look at the wasp in the photo, you can easily see this.

The photo shows three additional wasp eyes.

In addition to huge eyes, there are also antennae on the head. These antennae are multifunctional. They are also organs of smell and touch, they also perceive air vibrations, they also act as taste buds and, moreover, when building a nest, each cell is measured with antennae.

Interesting! Only female wasps have a sting. This is explained by the fact that this organ is an ovipositor and only when there is danger, the wasp injects poison through it.

The types of insect wasps are quite diverse and there are many of them, but they are all divided into social and solitary. Already from the name it is clear that solitary wasps prefer to live separately, without large companies.

They don't even build nests. But every single wasp has the opportunity to continue its genus, that is, to reproduce. But social wasps cannot live alone; they live in families, the number of which can number several thousand wasps.

Such wasps build themselves a serious home - a strong and reliable nest. Unlike solitary wasps, social wasps cannot all reproduce. Only the queen and males can participate in reproduction; the rest of the wasps are sterile.

In social wasps, nest construction begins with the queen. She can build a small dwelling, no larger than a walnut. She essentially needs a small nest where she can lay her first eggs.

First, the housing is all in one layer. But later the uterus builds up other tiers. It will work until young, working wasps hatch from the eggs.

And now they continue construction, freeing the queen for the most important task - increasing the aspen population. By the size of the nest, you can determine how rich the family is in workers.

Single wasps are not too sophisticated about building a nest, and if they do build one, then they have quite a lot of different methods of construction. Some build small cells in places protected from the weather and from prying eyes, and, for example, pottery wasps build something like a vase out of mud, which is attached to a wall or to tree branches.

There are wasps that simply burrow into the ground or bite through the stems of plants in order to find shelter there, and there are also those that prefer to find small crevices suitable for them to live. For such individuals, everything that remains from a person is also suitable - abandoned work gloves, pieces of three-layer cardboard, unnecessary things, etc.

Interesting! Solitary wasps lay their eggs exclusively in a single cell and then seal it. In this case, there is no interaction between adult wasps and larvae.

It was also noticed that eggs are laid in smaller cells, from which male larvae later hatch. This means that they have fewer males than females.

The photo shows a clutch of wasp larvae

A variety of wasps live wherever possible. However, most of all they like to settle next to a person. This is understandable; humans are a constant dining room for these insects, where they do not need to make any special efforts to obtain food.

What do they eat in summer

The diet and feeding habits of larvae and adults differ significantly. Thinking about what wasps eat, you might think that they are omnivores, but this is a mistaken opinion. There are quite a lot of things that wasps eat and will never touch. Moreover, they are quite picky when it comes to nutrition.

The most constant food for insects is fruit and berry juice, which ripens during the period of their activity. Such nutrition is the main source of energy. In addition, wasps love the insides of berries and are able to leave behind only the skin. This applies to plums, raspberries, strawberries, blackberries and grapes.

Representatives’ favorite products are also:

Sugar;
Honey products;
Fruit varieties of jam;
Sweet syrups.

In turn, the larvae feed exclusively on protein tissues, that is, on other insects. Suitable for feeding and development of future offspring:

Slug;
Butterfly;
Spider;
Caterpillar;
Cockroach;
Bedbugs and other insects.

Important! If there are hives with bee families nearby, there is a danger of the striped workers being destroyed by predators.

Solitary wasps

The nest building methods of solitary wasps are more varied than those of social wasps. For example, burrowing wasps (or burrowing wasps) and flower wasps build cells in protected areas, usually on the side of a wall. Pottery wasps (or pill wasps) similarly build vase-like nests out of mud, often with multiple cells, attached to tree branches or to a wall. Most other predatory wasps burrow into soil or plant stems, and only a few do not build nests at all, preferring natural cavities such as small holes in wood or the pores of three-ply cardboard. It is also noteworthy that solitary wasps, as opposed to social wasps, lay eggs in each individual cell, after which it is sealed so that no interaction occurs between the larvae and adults at all. However, in some species, eggs with male larvae are selectively placed in a smaller tray, which suggests that males are generally smaller than females.

Wasps include:

For these Hymenoptera (as well as for bees), all stages of the transition from a solitary to a social lifestyle are observed (unlike the Ant family, which is the only completely social one).

The nests of social wasps are sometimes parasitized by a number of insects: ichneumon wasps, German wasps, glossy wasps, and hoverflies. All of them parasitize larvae and pupae.

Do wasps die in winter?

In the fall, the wasps leave their nest and disappear for several months. If it remains in the same place, the first individuals will begin to return in the spring. They also begin to disappear gradually; young females disappear in October, when the temperature in the Moscow region drops to +10 degrees.

Working females are the first to die. Their life cycle is short, only a year. Before this, at the end of summer, individuals capable of giving birth to offspring mate. Then they fall into suspended animation and fall asleep until spring in order to preserve future offspring during the frost period. By the end of November, male workers die. The old queen falls asleep forever, and in the spring a new individual will take her place. Some families give birth to fertile females only at the end of August, so their cycle is slightly shifted. Even at the end of summer, the life processes inside the wasp’s body begin to slow down until they slow down so much that the insect freezes and goes into hibernation, with fatal consequences.

As a result, only the females who store the eggs survive the winter. In the spring, the swarm will recover and return to its original place of residence. In solitary species of wasps, the queens survive the winter with their offspring inside. Male hornets die in winter, but females hide until warm days arrive and survive. Wasps choose wintering places long before the onset of cold weather.

Wasp life cycle, lifestyle

Everyone has encountered wasps at least once and is well aware of their aggressive nature. The insect, without hesitation, will attack first if it senses danger. Predators are capable of not only stinging, but also biting with their jaws, which in itself is less painful. The family also has a herd instinct. If there are wasps nearby that sense the poison, they will come to the rescue and help attack.

The entire short life cycle of insects can be divided into several stages:

Birth and arrangement of the nest. With the arrival of warmth, the queen begins to nest to give life to a new generation;
Reproduction. After laying eggs, fertile males and females emerge, ensuring further reproduction.

Every gardener, knowing why wasps are needed, will say that wasps only get in the way, because they spoil the fruit harvest, attack people and animals, and feed on the leftover sweet foods from the table. But they also destroy other pests that attack garden plots. In addition, they pollinate plants, which is also important.

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The danger of wintering

During hibernation, wasps face many dangers. One of the main ones is animals and birds. In the spring, bears destroy stumps and old hollows in search of food. This happens before the insects wake up en masse. Birds also peck at wasps that have settled in hollows or forest floors of dry leaves.

Another danger is unstable weather conditions. With sudden changes in temperature from frost to thaw, the chemical composition of cells changes. During the next cold snap, the mechanism that prevents the crystallization of the liquid does not work, and the wasps die. Abnormally low temperatures are no less dangerous. In very severe frosts, the bodies of insects completely crystallize, causing them to die.

The life cycle of wasps is a complex and interesting process. What these insects do is an integral part of the biome. Death and rebirth are repeated endlessly so that the wasp population does not disappear on our planet.

Where do wasps spend the winter if their nests are empty in the fall?

Wild bees spend the winter in hollows, while domestic bees spend the winter in their hives, which are installed in special winter huts. Not everyone knows where wasps spend the winter, since in the fall they fly away from their nests, leaving them completely empty. In spring, only a few individuals appear. These insects reappear in large numbers only in mid-summer.

Where do wasps spend the winter?

On warm summer days, wasps are found everywhere. Before fruits and berries ripen, they conscientiously destroy various pests in the garden and vegetable garden, without causing inconvenience to anyone. And their number is not very large.

When the fruits begin to ripen, the number of these insects becomes significant, and they turn into malicious pests, destroying sweet fruits and berries en masse.

If in the spring a wasp's nest is small in size and only a few insects live in it, then by autumn it becomes impressive in size, and the number of individuals in it is already in the hundreds. But the nest is exclusively a summer home for wasps. With the onset of cold weather, these hives become empty.

Summer residents who remove and burn nests in late autumn know well that there are no insects in them. These actions play only a preventive role, since in the spring wasps prefer to build a nest where there are already old hives.

Before the onset of cold weather, young females fly away after mating and look for suitable places for wintering. As a rule, their winter “apartments” are rotting stumps and fallen trees, and the forest floor of fallen leaves.

Females love to climb through cracks under the bark of trees, into the crevices of buildings and under boards. By the period of hibernation, wasps accumulate specific substances in their cells, similar to antifreeze, which significantly reduce the freezing temperature and prevent the destruction of body cells.

After finding a suitable shelter, females enter diapause (hibernation)

For a safe winter, it is very important that there are no significant temperature changes in the shelter. In harsh winters with little snow, many insects die

Winter thaws are also detrimental to wasps.

A significant number of wintering females become prey for birds and small predators. Nevertheless, some insects survive safely until spring.

Working wasps and old females also leave the nest in the fall, but, unlike young females, they do not look for a place to winter, but scatter around the surrounding area and, with the onset of cold weather, become inactive, freeze and die.
In early spring, when the air temperature exceeds 15 degrees, the surviving females will leave their winter shelters and fly to look for suitable places to build nests.

Wasp control work in the autumn-winter period

In the autumn and winter, owners of vineyards and orchards should not relax, waiting for the summer “attack” of wasps on fruit and berry crops. A number of works should be carried out in winter, so as not to waste precious summer hours, which are always in short supply.

In late autumn, you should check places where wasps may have lived - attics, sheds, corners in sheds and others. Found empty nests should be removed and burned, and the places where they are attached should be treated with some kind of odor-reducing agent. Kerosene, machine oil, dichlorvos, etc. are suitable. This will not harm the insects, since the wasps have already left their nest, but in the spring, the awakened females will look for places to build a new hive. They like to settle near old nests. The absence of old hives and the intimidating smell will force females to look for other places to create a new family.
With the onset of cold weather (below + 10 degrees), possible wintering sites for females should be collected and burned on the site - old rotten stumps, cut trees. The loose bark should be torn off from dried trunks. Piles of dry leaves should be burned and compost heaps should be poured with boiling water. It is advisable to stir up and turn over or move the boards, pieces of roofing felt and slate to another place. If the wasps have settled down for the winter under them, then, left without shelter, they will die.
During the winter, you can collect empty plastic bottles and make traps from them. 0.7-liter jars with plastic lids are suitable for the same purposes.
On free evenings, you can prepare bags for tying bunches of grapes. Gauze, unnecessary tulle or old thin tights are quite suitable for this.
Preparations should be prepared to combat these insects. It is advisable to stock up on insecticides for baits and traps (boric acid, which is sold in pharmacies, can be successfully used), as well as sprays to destroy nests.

“Armed” in advance, it will be possible to begin the fight against wasps in a timely manner and prevent significant crop losses.

When wasps sleep

Insects lead an active lifestyle during the day, each individual performs its own functions. With the onset of dusk, they return to their nests or look for a secluded place among the grass, flowers, and trees. They gather in groups or may fall asleep alone. In summer, wasps sleep all night until dawn. In the open air they cling to the base with their paws and jaws. They can spend the night in the hive in a free position.

A similar condition occurs in winter. However, in this case, sleep lasts much longer and is called suspended animation. Insects are capable of hibernating at certain temperatures. Insects awaken only with the onset of warm days.

On a note!
The temperature at which wasps begin to gather for the winter ranges from +15 to +10 degrees Celsius. Working individuals at such rates begin to die without waiting for winter. They wake up in the spring with temperatures rising to +10 degrees Celsius.

Initially, the young female looks for a favorable place to build a nest. In most cases, it returns to where it was born and begins to settle and settle. The behavior of a young queen is hardly noticeable. She is busy laying eggs. Only after the appearance of the first adult working individuals does active life begin. Insects fly around the surrounding area, get food, and carry out their duties. Peak activity occurs in June-August. Working females live no more than 3 weeks. Males die after mating.

To avoid repopulation of the wasp family, summer residents and owners of private houses destroy empty nests in the fall and winter.

How do ticks overwinter?

The body of ticks has a special self-regulation system that allows them to fall into suspended animation during the onset of cold weather. It is thanks to this analogue of hibernation that insects can wait out the winter and become active again with the onset of warmth. How do ticks overwinter and where do they hide?

The hibernation process itself proceeds as follows:

When the air temperature drops below +10 degrees, all processes in the tick’s body begin to gradually slow down.
Feeling this, the insect begins to look for a safe shelter for the winter, where it can hide from the cold.
Having found a suitable place, the parasite stops moving and slowly falls into suspended animation.
In the spring, as soon as the snow melts and the sun warms the ground, the automatic regulation system gradually brings the tick out of hibernation, accelerating the processes in its body.
The parasite emerges from its hiding place and goes in search of food.

Depending on the species, a tick can live in this mode from 4 to 8 years. Both tick larvae, which look the same as adult insects, but are smaller in size, and adult individuals can fall into suspended animation.

The places where ticks most often overwinter are:

Grass
Fallen leaves
Moss
Compost heaps
Stacked firewood
Debris deposits on the site
forest floor
Space under tree roots

The tick covers itself with plant humus, similar to how people wrap themselves in a blanket. Falling snow additionally protects the pest from wind and frost throughout the winter. Its life depends on how well the parasite chooses a place for wintering and how well it protects itself with available means. Not all ticks that hibernate for the winter necessarily wake up next spring. If the place was chosen poorly, the cold will kill the tick in its sleep.

The percentage of ticks that survived and died during the winter may vary depending on how snowy, cold and windy the winter was, but absolutely all ticks cannot die in the cold in Moscow or the Moscow region, there will definitely be survivors and there will always be more than enough of them to with the onset of spring, they will again begin to harm people and animals.

It is precisely because of the life cycle of ticks and their predisposition to certain weather that the most effective and safest for people is the treatment of summer cottages and any open areas in early spring and late autumn.

Spring decontamination allows you to destroy only mites that have emerged from hibernation and at the same time not harm fruit and berry crops that have not yet begun to grow.
Autumn treatment helps to destroy ticks that are settling in for the winter and are already sleeping, thereby reducing their numbers by next year.

Disinfestation of a site using professional means can also be carried out urgently, at any time convenient for you, when the ground is not covered with snow.

Wasp protection

In general, the wasp species cannot be called endangered, so it is not listed in the Red Book. Only certain species are recognized by scientists as endangered in specific regions. For example, the forest wasp is included in the Red Book of the Moscow Region. In the Moscow region it is represented in small quantities. Wood wasps usually live in forests. These animals are rarely seen in human buildings.

The main reason for the decline in the forest wasp population is the harmful influence of humans. This is the main factor. People deliberately destroy nests. Also, the state of the population is greatly influenced by unfavorable weather conditions. This is due to the characteristics of nesting. These insects sometimes build their houses in open areas, on trees. Even a heavy rainfall can easily damage their homes.

Natural enemies and high competition from other species have some influence on the number of forest wasps. These animals often become victims of birds, parasites, and predatory insects. Due to the existing danger of changes in the population of forest wasps, this type of insect was listed in the Red Book of the Moscow Region. Today, the habitats of these animals are carefully protected. It is also planned to create new natural protected areas in the near future.

The wasp is an amazing representative of the fauna. Their life is quite short, but very interesting. In their short life, wasps manage to build a house, raise offspring, and some species help humans quickly and without chemicals get rid of garden pests. Also, not all wasps are as aggressive as is commonly believed. Many species are quite peaceful and will never sting a person without reason.

Why are wasps needed?

There is nothing superfluous in nature. Each insect performs its own functions, which are regarded by humans as beneficial or harmful. Wasps are needed in nature to regulate the number of insects - small and large. Scientists claim that in the absence of the wasp family, people would have learned about such a number of insect pests that they are not aware of now.

A flexible body structure, powerful jaws, and a sting with poison help to skillfully cope with any prey, even one that is several times larger in size than the predator itself. If social wasps destroy many different insects, solitary wasps choose one species or several. Better than humans, they find pests, their larvae underground, and use them as a living incubator for their larvae.

Why different types of wasps are useful:

Burrowing Larra hunts exclusively for mole crickets, with which a person wages a constant fight in his area. It is indifferent to other representatives of the fauna.
The burrowing wasp Ammophila is a sandy solitary wasp that destroys cutworm larvae, which, when multiplying en masse, destroy crops at a rapid pace.
The giant scolia regulates the number of rhinoceros beetles, beetles, and bronze beetles. Despite its terrifying appearance, the bite is not dangerous to humans.
Tiny Spilomena troglodytes are waging a desperate fight against thrips that infect garden, vegetable, and ornamental flower crops.
The benefits of social wasps - Polistas, Vespins with a characteristic yellow-black color - are somewhat more extensive. They destroy spiders, leaf rollers, moth caterpillars, bronze moths, horseflies, weevils, grasshoppers, locusts, bedbugs, and leaf beetles. In urban environments, this is the only large-scale enemy of flies.

Wasps of different species
This is not a complete list of potential victims of the wasp family. The location of the nest in a summer cottage can cause more benefit than harm. If the hive is located away from the garden or vegetable garden, and does not particularly interfere, you can use it for your own benefit. In the fall the nest will empty on its own.

An excessive increase in the number of the wasp family is dangerous due to massive attacks on the apiary, bites of people, and damage to fruits and berries. Birds, animals, and the largest representatives of the same wasp family, hornets, help regulate the number of insects. The main regulator and enemy for insects is humans with insecticides. Thanks to thoughtless actions, some species of wasps are listed in the Red Book as disappearing from planet Earth.

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Population and species status

Wasps are a necessary, useful and significant part of the fauna. Yes, they do not produce tasty honey like bees and even harm beekeeping. However, in other areas of life and in nature, they perform a very useful task - they destroy various pests. They catch small insects and feed them to their offspring. This has a beneficial effect on plants. Garden and vegetable plantings do not suffer from the paws of pests.

For example, wasps can help completely get rid of a pest such as a mole cricket. If there is a mole cricket in the area, it is enough to attract wasps with the help of flower plants. Ground wasps will very quickly “restore order” to the area. Wasps can also be used to combat borers and leaf beetles. The following species feed on these pests: wall, paper, big-headed, big-nosed. They can significantly reduce the number of harmful insects. This is the best way to combat them without using chemicals.

Representatives of the wasp species are numerous. They are common in many countries, multiply quickly, and are able to protect themselves. Therefore, the species is not threatened by the process of extinction or extinction. However, it is impossible to track the wasp population with great accuracy. These are small insects that often settle in hard-to-reach places. For this reason, accurate population data does not exist.

What do wasps make their nests from?

Nature compensated for the inability to secrete wax by giving the wasps jaws. With their help, insects scrape pieces of rotten wood, and then glue the resulting mass with the liquid produced during chewing. Wood chips, bark and even sawdust are used. The construction material obtained in this way can be compared in appearance to wrapping paper. For this skill, the insects received the name “paper wasps.”

The walls of the internal cells have a denser and smoother structure. The layers of the outer sphere of the structure under construction look quite loose. Wasps that live in the tropics use everything they find to create their hives: limestone pieces, clay grains of sand, and, if necessary, manure.

There are several thousand species of wasps, each of which adapts to environmental conditions in its own way. Habitat features greatly influence what wasps use to make a hive.

What do wasps make their nests from?

The largest species of wasps, hornets, use young tree bark for construction. From the outside, a hornet hive looks like a large bucket, and in cross-section, the cells of the nest are colored yellow-brown, sandy or brown.

Natural enemies of wasps

Wasps, especially social species, are collective animals. Together they can hold the defense when attacked by the enemy.

However, even wasp colonies have natural enemies:

Some types of birds. Only certain species of birds dare to attack stinging insects. In particular, European honey buzzards prey on wasps. They catch them in flight and immediately tear off the sting. The carcass is then given to its chicks. Bee-eaters are not averse to eating wasps. They easily catch them, crush them and quickly swallow them. At the same time, they themselves never receive any damage;
Small parasites. They start right in wasp nests. Small ticks, “riders”, feed on young animals that still live in the honeycombs. Such parasites can go unnoticed by adults for a very long time. They significantly reduce the number of young animals;
Wild animals. Wasps need to be wary of hedgehogs, bears, and other medium and large wild predators. However, most animals that have been bitten by this insect at least once try to avoid it in the future;
People. If a wasp colony settles near a house, in a barn or in an attic, it will almost always die. People, on their own or with the help of specialists, try to get rid of the nest and wasps using various means and poison.

Where in the house can wasps settle?

If there are wasps in your house, you should first figure out where they live. They often start in a wooden house. These insects build their nests next to various foods. In this regard, they make nests in different parts of a residential building or near it.

To build their nests, they prefer those areas of the structure where they can easily build a nest, but at the same time it is important for them not to be disturbed

The main places where these insects can settle:

on the roofs of residential buildings or sheds;
in the attic;
in various non-residential buildings;
in the wall of the house;
in dark corners of living rooms and other outbuildings;
behind window frames;
between the walls and the sheathing, if it fits loosely;
in places of hedges;
among old things.

For this reason, if you suddenly see wasps on your property or in your house, then it is advisable to inspect all places in the house, non-residential outbuildings, as well as rarely visited areas of your house. You need to make sure that you have found all the nests of these pests.

Many people are also interested in an important question: do wasps sleep at night? No, they never sleep, either at night or during the day, or even in winter. They constantly fly, get food for themselves, and feed their offspring. Therefore, if you have wasps, then you should not think that they will not bother you at night. These pests can sting a person while he is sleeping. This is another reason pushing for the elimination of these creatures. So how to get rid of wasps at home?

Where are wasps found?

Species of wasps that live in families build nests consisting of individual elements called honeycombs. Insects build their nests not far from places where there is a lot of building material and food. Often, abandoned nests, rodent holes, tree hollows, etc. serve as such places for this. It is not so rare for wasps to appear on garden plots or summer cottages, in various outbuildings, in the attics of houses, on balconies, etc. Here they live and raise their offspring throughout the summer, and with the arrival of autumn they leave the nest. Only young, fertilized females survive and find refuge in various places.

Solitary wasps are found exclusively among wildlife. At night, they can be on the stems of various plants, holding onto them with their paws and jaws. They can climb into a flower. These insects behave like nomads, constantly changing their location.

The most common types of wasps and hornets

Wasps and hornets belong to the same family - True wasps, folded winged wasps (lat. Vespidae). They feed on other insects (mosquitoes, flies, etc.), fruits and tree sap. They can cause great harm in cultivation, especially in the garden of stone fruit trees. They are also a great threat to bees, because in addition to the massive destruction of these beneficial insects, their honey is stolen.

There are several species of these insects in our area. Many of them live near areas where people live. The most common of them:

Common wasp (lat. Vespula vulgaris) - body length is 10-20 mm, builds nests in the ground,
The German wasp (lat. Vespula germanica) is smaller - its body length is 10-12 mm, builds a nest on the ground, in the walls and on the roof,
Forest wasp (lat. Dolichovespula sylvestris) - its body length is 14-18 mm, inhabits tree hollows, balconies and attics,
Common hornet (European) (lat. Vespa crabro), often the name is shortened simply to “hornet” - the body length is 20-25 mm, nests in hollows, streets, sheds, under the roofs of verandas and sheds.

You can increasingly hear about the invasion of hornets from Asia. Although the Asian hornet is not significantly different from its European counterpart, Vespa Mandarinia is a true spikelet - its body length reaches 60mm. One such individual can kill even several dozen bees within a minute.

Are wasps and hornets dangerous for humans?

Bites are painful for humans, however, in the vast majority of cases they do not pose a threat to health or life. There is no exact data on the tolerance of poison to humans. You can find information that an adult is able to withstand up to 100-200 wasp stings, however, this is a subjective question and does not take into account people with allergies.

In the case of individuals with allergic reactions, stings can quickly lead to anaphylactic shock, which can even result in death. Generally, wasps and hornets only attack when provoked (eg by excessive gesticulation or body contact). They also sometimes become restless during extreme heat.

Myths about wasps often stem from the fact that insects have hooked stings and can attack many times without harming their own health. And regarding hornets, the magic of size and relatively loud, clumsy flight operates.

What to do if you get stung?

Bites (stings) by wasps and hornets should never be ignored!

An ordinary person feels pain when stung, but that is where the trouble ends. In order to “ease” the symptoms, you can apply a compress of soda or ointment with hydrocortisone. From “grandmother’s” advice, you can try applying cut onions, parsley or a vinegar compress.

Alarming symptoms after a bite are a rash, significant swelling, hoarseness and difficulty breathing. In this case, it is better to consult a doctor immediately. An allergy sufferer who is sensitive to wasp venom should immediately receive an adrenaline injection.

Winter houses for wasps

As soon as the first cold weather sets in, summer residents calmly remove and burn wasp nests. They know very well: the insects have already flown away. In fact, the destruction of empty nests only has a certain preventive role. The fact is that wasps like to nest where there are already other wasp nests nearby. And it’s better to get rid of the old nest: suddenly the wasps won’t come again!

Before wintering, females actively mate, and then fly away in search of a suitable place for wintering. What attracts insects, and where do wasps usually hibernate? They love fallen trees. Rotting stumps also become a home for wasps. If a good litter has been formed from fallen autumn leaves, insects will definitely live in it and stay there until spring.

Females, for the most part, look for cracks in the bark and climb into them. If there are a lot of cracks in your country house, then insects can get into them and stay there until the first warm days. The main thing is that wasps do not end up on the inside of your house. Any wooden buildings, especially old barns, can become an “apartment” for insects. And you need to be prepared for this.

There should not be large temperature differences where wasps hibernate. When there is a harsh winter or, conversely, little snow, many females die. Even before they have time to recover from hibernation, wasps become desirable prey for birds, which cannot help but take advantage of the arrival of winter thaws. But, naturally, some insects remain alive. And the new generation appears quite quickly, which in any case has a positive effect on the population.

Wintering places

In the summer, wasps can be found almost everywhere in nature. Before the fruits ripen, these insects actively eat pests. Their numbers are usually small. However, as the fruits ripen, the number of insects increases.

The first young wasps are sterile females. They help the queen care for the new generation and build a nest. At the end of summer - beginning of autumn, young queens and males mate. With the arrival of cold weather, the nests quickly become empty: most of the male and working individuals die.

And young females choose places that are completely hidden from human eyes as their winter “dwelling.” In most cases, this is the thickness of wood, old stumps and cracks in outbuildings or houses.

Wasps attack people for no reason

Wasps are considered one of the most dangerous insects, stinging their prey. Like all things stinging, the wasp is considered a predator whose bite brings a lot of pain. After a bite, a person feels severe pain, after which other unpleasant symptoms may appear.

The first reason why wasps attack is an attempt at defense. Like any predator, the wasp is evil by nature, so any confrontation with it is perceived as an attack. Usually such fights only end in bites.

Nutrition

Wasps are predatory insects, although they are known to have a “sweet tooth.” You should not leave bowls of jam on the summer veranda after drinking tea; wasps will certainly discover this gift and fly here for a new portion. Wasps can lick nectar from flowers, or they can also snack on smaller insects.

And yet, one has only to remember the wasp-rider, and doubts about predation will disappear. This wasp looks for a well-fed caterpillar, sits astride it (like an equestrian), pierces the skin with its ovipositor and lays eggs in the body of the victim.

Later, the larvae will be provided with food, that is, this very caterpillar. Some wasps choose beetles instead of caterpillars. The Pepsis wasp (road wasp) even tracks spiders, attacking them, sometimes even in their own home, and lays its eggs in the body of this spider.

By the way, cicadas, which are larger than wasps, also feed the larvae. They are simply walled up in a cell with an egg and when the larva hatches, it will not starve.

How to get rid of wasps and hornets

First, it should be noted that there is no completely safe way to get rid of these insects (except from a specialized company). Eliminating nests on your own can result in bites.

If you decide to act on your own, you should use protective clothing, thick gloves and a face net (mosquito net). Clothes should not be bright - this irritates wasps and hornets. Even despite such protection, after the event, it is better to quickly go to a safe place

Destruction of nests

Nests on the ground can be filled with boiling water (you cannot use cold water - this will only anger the insects) or with insecticidal preparations (Kordon, Solfak).

The procedure should be carried out when there is little activity of wasps and hornets (for example, early in the morning). Nests on trees and walls can be fumigated with sulfur or dust, karbofos or dichlorvos in aerosol packaging can be blown inside.

Wasp traps

Traps are also quite effective - for example, cut plastic bottles with juice or honey. You can buy ready-made traps in gardening stores. They are filled with a special liquid that attracts wasps and hornets, but does not attract bees.