Wasps
About Wasps
There are 4,000 species of wasps in the United States. Wasps are typically most active during the day and usually return to their nests at dusk. These pests are often seen flying around during the second half of summer and early fall when the colonies search for food to sustain their queens during the winter. For wasps as well as bee extermination services, contact BREDA.
Types of Wasps
Bald-faced Hornets
- Actual size: 1-1.5"
- Relatively aggressive if their nest is disturbed. They build aerial, paper mache like nests usually located in a tree or side of a home. Their diet includes insects as well as they harvest nectar (carbohydrates) and pollen (protein) from flowering plants.
Mud Daubers
- Actual size: 1"
- Mud daubers are not very aggressive. They make nests out of mud that look like organ pipes. Mud daubers collect and store spiders to feed their young. Unlike bees, which can only sting once, wasps have reinforced stingers that allow them to inflict multiple, painful stings.
Yellow Jackets
- Actual size: 1/2"
- Exhibit aggressive behavior around their nest, which is located in the ground or tree. These wasps are not beneficial pollinators and are considered carnivore eaters (they eat other insects). Watch your sugary drinks and fruit in the summer months around these wasps.
Paper Wasps
- Actual size: 1"
- Moderately aggressive. The nest is exposed like an upside-down umbrella, usually under eaves, cedar shake, and protected areas. Paper wasps are considered beneficial to most gardeners since they help with lots of garden insects like caterpillars and beetle larvae.
