The wasps of August 2007
Editor’s note: This article is from the archives of the MSU Crop Advisory Team Alerts. Check the label of any pesticide referenced to ensure your use is included.
I
am happy to report that no one has called me about cicada killers in the
past two weeks. However, other types of wasps have moved center stage
to take their place. Ground nesting yellow jackets and bald faced
hornets seem to be all rage these days. I discovered a nest of eastern
yellow jackets at the base of my son’s basketball hoop a week or so
ago. Since their nest was located near where I park my truck and their
mood tends to sour in late summer, I decided to kill off the nest. I
chose Seven Garden Dust as my weapon of choice. Sevin works great on
ground nesting yellow jackets because its slow acting and wasps pick it
up and spread it around the nest. I put a couple of tablespoons in a
small paper cup, and simply dumped the dust into the nest opening as I
briskly walked by. It’s never a good idea to linger too long around a
yellow jacket nest. The nest appeared dead two days after treatment. I
intended to take pictures of the nest opening and then dig the nest up
and take more pictures of the comb and dead wasps for this week’s CAT
Alert article. When I went out to the nest site this morning to take
pictures, I discovered that some varmint, either a raccoon or skunk, had
beaten me to it. The nest had been dug and comb destroyed. The
accompanying photos show the nest just as I found it this morning. (view
photos)
My neighbor also discovered a nest of wasps this past week, but his was
an aerial nest of baldfaced hornets and they were in a small maple tree
next to his driveway. About ten years ago, he had found a similar nest
on branch that hung over his driveway and he asked me back then what he
should do about it. Despite my advice to leave the nest alone, he
couldn’t control himself and thought it prudent to chuck a few rocks at
the nest (this behavior supports the notion that boys do not grow up,
ever). He returned a few minutes later to inquire if I might have some
bug spray that he might use to quell the now swarming wasps. I didn’t
have any, so he left. A few minutes later, I noticed a large plume of
black smoke rising from my neighbor’s yard. Since he didn’t have any
insecticide, my neighbor decided that the next best thing to do would be
to douse the nest with gas and touch it off with a match. Boys will
boys! About an hour later, he was back at my house asking he if might
borrow my sawhorses so he could cordon off his driveway to prevent his
wife from driving over the now smoldering nest that was still attended
by a swarm of very angry baldfaced hornets. Apparently, my neighbor has
matured some since then because this time around he chose to leave nest
alone. I took some pictures of his nest this morning to share with
you.
I found one more type of wasp nest under the eve of an old shed of
mine. The organ-pipe mud dauber is my favorite species of wasp. I like
the look of their nests. The wasp themselves have always seemed
friendly and they provision their nests with spiders, which their babies
eat as they develop. An excellent review of Organ-pipe mud daubers can
be read at: http://entomology.uark.edu/museum/muddaub.html
Several nice photos of Eastern yellowjackets can be seen at:
http://www.invasive.org/browse/subthumb.cfm?sub=3431&start=1
A very nice photo of a baldfaced hornet can be seen at:
http://www.forestryimages.org/images/768x512/1224169.jpg