If you’re dealing with wasps or any other pests, then it’s time to call a Tulsa exterminator that can help. Most people don’t understand that wasps are a year-round pest. These insects find their way into and around our homes and businesses year-round. While they are predominantly a spring, summer and fall pest, that doesn’t mean that we don’t have issues with them during the winter as well. In this article, let us take a good hard look at wasps, their lifecycle and what you and your Tulsa exterminator can do to keep them out of your home.

WASP LIFECYCLE AND TULSA EXTERMINATOR

Wasps use a complete metamorphosis to develop. This means they have four life stages They have the egg stage, the larva stage, the pupa stage, and the adult stage. These insects lay their eggs into a nest. These nests can be made out of a number of different substances. For a paper wasp, they will chew up plant material, creating a mush like pulp, and when it dries it becomes a paper. They will use this to create their paper wasp nest. Mud daubers will collect mud to use to make its nest with. Once the nest is built, she will lay the egg inside a cell in the nest. If the wasp is a social wasp, then will have multiple cells and therefore multiple eggs. Solitary wasps will create a nest with one cell and therefore one egg.

In addition to the eggs that it puts inside the cells, the wasp will put food for the newly hatched larva. It does this by hunting for small spiders, grubs, and other insects that can be paralyzed with venom from her stinger, and then place the insect inside the cell with the egg. The stinger has no barbs so it can sting multiple times. In addition, it uses a venom that is made up of a cocktail of neurotoxins to paralyze its prey. Once these paralyzed prey are caught and collected they are put inside the cell with the egg. Your Tulsa exterminator will have more information.  

LARVA DEVELOPMENT AND TULSA EXTERMINATOR

Then the cell is sealed off, and the wasp goes on about its life never worrying about the young egg again. The egg will hatch as a larva and start to feed upon the food left inside the cell. As it feeds, the larva will grow until it gets to the form where needs to pupate. At this point, it will still be inside the cell and will pupate inside the cell growing into an adult. Once it finishes this process and becomes an adult, it will emerge from the cell, dry off, and go off to reproduce after its own kind. 

The wasp diet is made up of multiple different things based on where it is in its lifecycle. As I said before, the larva will feed upon paralyzed insects in order to grow and develop into the adult. Those paralyzed insects will provide the protein necessary to build a structures that the young wasp will need to survive.  Call your Tulsa exterminator for help with wasps.  

WASP DIET AND TULSA EXTERMINATOR

Once the wasp gets to adulthood, then the real work begins. At this point, the wasp will mate, create a nest, and lay eggs. In addition, the wasp will also have to protect its nest and hunt for food. All these things require a lot of energy. Because of this, these insects will feed on the nectar of flowers during the spring, summer and fall months. These months are the height of their activity. So the carbohydrates found in the nectar will help them to have the energy to do all the things they need to do.

Often in the winter months, we get calls about wasps that have come inside someone’s house. The truth is that these wasps are relatively harmless. The way that a wasp overwinters is by going into dormancy. In the fall months, the males and females will mate for the last time, and then the males will die off in the cold. The females will find a place to overwinter. They will find a crack or a crevice and try to stay warm inside this crevice. Eliminate them with your Tulsa exterminator.  

DORMANT WASPS AND TULSA EXTERMINATOR

Their bodies will go dormant, and they will try to conserve as much energy as possible without moving. When the warm spring months come, the wasp will feel the warmth and try to emerge from the cracks and crevices. As soon as they are released from their winter slumber, they will need to eat right away. All of the reserves are used up just to survive through the winter months. If they can’t find the nectar that they need in order to survive, they will die in a matter of minutes.

Sometimes these wasps will find a crack or crevice in the exterior of our homes. A lifted shingle, or a gap in the siding can be a perfect place for these insects to hide and overwinter. But during the winter months, when we turn the heat on, sometimes that can trigger the female wasp. She will burrow and go towards the heat which is found inside the house. When she emerges inside the house, immediately she will search for a flower, thinking that it is the spring time. Since there are no flowers during the winter time, this wasp will not find the food it needs. It will die again in a matter of minutes.

If you’re having issues with wasps or any other insects, then it’s time to call your Tulsa exterminator for help. Here at TermMax Pest Control, we are the best in the business when it comes to dealing with wasps or any other pests. We service greater Tulsa area, including Owosso, Turley, Sand Springs, Prattville, Sapulpa, Bixby, Jenks, Broken Arrow, Coweta, Claremore, Catoosa, and much more. Call today for a free estimate. We’re here to help!

to top