The summertime is full of many different insects and pests. Of these pests, many people are very afraid of the wasp. But the wasp is not all bad. It’s important to understand them in order to protect yourself from the sting, but also allow them to do the things that help our ecosystem to flourish. In this article, let’s explore wasps, their lifecycle and how to deal with them and stay safe.
TWO KINDS OF WASPS
There are two kinds of wasps in the insect kingdom. There is a social wasp, and a solitary wasp. Social wasp is a wasp that works together with other wasps in order to reproduce and survive. The paper wasp is a great example of this. A queen will create a nest of many different cells hatching multiple wasps. This wasps will hang together while they emerge from their cell and dry their wings off. A solitary wasp is more like a mud Dobber. These wasps will make one cell out of mud. Each cell houses one offspring alone.
THE WASP STING
The sting of a wasp can be very painful. Unlike bees, wasps do not have a barb on the end of their stinger. This means that they can sting multiple times in order to protect themselves. But their stinger is not only used for protection. Wasps are active hunters. They are great predators to minimize the number of caterpillars, worms and spiders. Your Broken Arrow pest control company will have more information.
The young wasp, in his larva form needs to have a lot of protein in order to develop through its life stages to an adult wasp. Because of this the adult wasp will hunt down spiders and other small grubs, stinging them and paralyzing them with their stinger. Then will carry off and put these wasps spiders in the cell with the wasp larva. Once the egg hatches and the larva emerges, it will feed upon these paralyzed insects giving up the nourishment it will need to move through the next stages of its lifecycle.
FOOD FOR ADULTS
Even though the wasp needs a lot of protein in its young stages, as an adult it does not require this kind of food. The adult last is a pollinator. It survives on carbohydrates and it gets from the nectar of plants. If there’s a lot of work to be done for the adult wasp in order to hunt, to mate, create the nest that it needs and lay the eggs necessary to carry on the wasps. This nectar gives the adult wasp the energy needs to do these things. In addition it will cross pollinate many flowers to allow them to continue to grow as well as reproduce. Because of this, it is important that the wasps are given the ability to do the things that are necessary to take care of their young and pollinate the flowers around them. It’s a huge asset to our ecosystem.
Some wasps are quite unique in the way that they reproduce. The jewel wasp attacks a cockroach and lays an egg inside the body of a cockroach. A venom injected into the brain of the cockroach makes the cockroach into a kind of zombie that will do whatever the wasp needs it to do. The egg will hatch in the larva will eat the cockroach from the inside out until it emerges as a full-grown wasp killing the cockroach. Tent worms caterpillars are also pray for many different kinds of wasps. Eggs can be laid within them as well. It’s because of this device, and many others that wasps are savage hunters. Call your Broken Arrow exterminator for help.
WASP LIFECYCLE
The development of the wasp follows a complete metamorphosis. A complete metamorphosis includes a stage as an egg, hatching from the egg comes a larva or worm like insect. Then the larva cocoons itself, which is often within the cell that it was born. And then it emerges from the cell as an adult. Once the egg is laid within a cell, all the stages happen inside the cell. The cell will protect the insect from outside predators until it can become a full grown adult wasp. Of course it doesn’t always work, some predators have adapted and figured out ways of feeding on a young wasp before they have come to full fruition.
DETERING WASPS
While it is impossible to keep wasps from flying into your yard and searching your flowers for nectar, it is possible to keep their nests off of your home. There are over-the-counter wasp sprays that can knock down these insects before they have a chance to protect themselves and sting you. But this can still be a dangerous endeavor especially if you have an allergy to wasp venom. If you’ve been stung by a wasp, it’s important that you seek medical attention immediately. Anaphylactic shock from an allergic reaction to any venom can be fatal. For this reason, if you do have a wasp nest it’s important that you contact your Tulsa exterminator for help with that. They have the equipment necessary and the chemicals that are appropriate for handling these kinds of situation in a safe manner.
In addition to removing wasp nest, repellent pesticides can be sprayed on the eaves and exterior of your home. This can deter wasps from making wasp nests on your building. While this is OK to do to your home or business, it’s important that you don’t spray flowers and tree blossoms with the same pesticides. Bees and wasps are necessary pollinators that are required in order for an ecosystem to survive. If you poison them with pesticides on the blossoms of flowers and trees then you are hurting the environment around you.
DEALING WITH WASPS
If you’re having an issue with wasps, bees are other pests and are not sure what to do, it’s time to call in a Tulsa pest control company that you can trust. TermMax Pest Control is the best in the business when it comes to dealing with wasps and other pests. We service the greater Tulsa area including Owasso, Turley, Broken Arrow, Sapulpa, Sand Springs, Coweta, Claremore, Catoosa, Jenks, Bixby, Prattville and much more. Call today for a free estimate. We’re here to help!
