How long does a wasp live, what does it eat, why is it needed in nature, where does it winter, the life of a wasp

• Lifespan of wasps
• Lifespan
• Uterus
• Working individual
• Males
• Why are wasps needed in nature?
• Benefits from insects

• Wintering places

• What happens if you kill a queen wasp?

• Wasp venom

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.

Wasp

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.

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.

Wasps

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.”

Interesting!

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.

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.

Before the onset of cold weather, they mate, after which the males die, and the future mothers of the family look for a place to winter. Females hide under bark, remnants of grass, and leaves. How many years the queen will live depends on a well-chosen location. Smart and lucky ones will survive 3-4 winters.

Working individual

Workers are the main population of a wasp hive, females who are not capable of reproduction. The working individual lives for about two months, the composition is constantly updated due to the continuous work of the uterus. By the end of summer, construction is no longer required; the worker wasps have completed their function. They restore order in their summer residence by eating larvae that have not yet been born.

After the act of cannibalism they set off on a journey. With the onset of the first frost, everyone dies. There are theoretical data according to which the queen of some species of the wasp family leaves the nest, dying along with the workers.

Males

In the tough wasp matriarchy, males are not particularly favored. They are born to fertilize females at the very end of summer; with cold weather, certain death awaits them. The lifespan of a male is about a month, with a maximum of 40 days. It all depends on the time of frost.

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.

Interesting!

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

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:

1. 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;
2. They 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;
3. They pollinate plants and flowers. For full development, many plants need to be pollinated, which wasps do very well;
4. Used medicinally 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;
5. 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 varieties of flies, beetles, butterflies and many others.

Wasps may not be as useful as nectar-producing bees, but don't underestimate their potential. Where wasps live, a significant decrease in flies, which spread various bacterial diseases with their paws, has been noticed. There are also fewer pests in the garden that spoil the crop, and the plants are not treated with chemicals. In addition, in order to attack a person, the wasp must see in him danger and aggression in its direction.

When you see insects, you should not wave your arms, panic, or even swing your arms. Wasps perceive all this as a threat to their lives. In other cases, they will simply fly by.

Should we look for honey in a wasp's nest in our latitudes?

Anyone can notice that nimble yellow-black insects love to feast on sweets. Just open a jar of honey or jam, and they are right there. Wasps are circling over flowering meadows and over apple and linden trees. Do these predators hunt bees or collect nectar? Gardeners believe that wasps pollinate plants no worse than furry workers from hives. But, unfortunately, striped insects do not have not only the enzymes that allow pollen and nectar to turn into honey, but even a proboscis for collecting. Wasps are not averse to feasting on the sweet juice of flowers, but they do not store it in their nests and do not store it for the winter. But still there is something similar to honey in their honeycombs. This substance is called “spray”. This is a thin layer of honey, as minuscule as the amount of wax covering cooking paper.

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.

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.

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.

Lifestyle, main functions

The behavior of a fertile female and the lifestyle of different species of the wasp family differ, but the main mission - prolongation of the genus - remains the same.

Single queens

They are active in early spring – the mating season begins. Eggs begin to be laid in summer. Before this, they live for their own pleasure - collecting nectar from plants, drinking juices of fruits and berries. They do not form multi-tiered nests; they dig holes in the ground for laying eggs.

The queen prepares the nest in light, easy-to-digging soil. The depth reaches 5 cm; a single cell is located at the bottom.

In this way, the queen provides the larva with separate housing and food. At the end of the cycle, pupation occurs. In the pupal state, the larva overwinters; in the spring, young females and males independently emerge to the surface, and the mating process begins.

Public vespins

The Wasp Queen is the founder of a large family, within which there is a clear hierarchy. The majority of the society consists of working individuals - immature females. They build a nest, provide protection, look for food, and feed the larvae.

Queen wasp of public vespins

The young queen lays the foundation of a nest in a favorable location. Initially forms a leg, then lays out the honeycomb. An egg is laid in each cell. After 3-4 days, sedentary larvae appear, which need to be fed for 2 weeks. The queen hunts spiders and insects, since the cubs require protein food. Chews, forms balls, gives to larvae.

At the end of the cycle, the larva pupates, after 2-3 days a working individual appears, to which the queen entrusts all responsibilities for building the nest, searching for food, and caring for the larvae. She herself becomes the queen of the family, only laying eggs.

In August, large honeycombs are built near the nest, where special eggs are placed. From them a generation of young sexually mature females and males appears. They live in the nest for some time, come out in the fall, and mating occurs. With the onset of cold weather, working individuals die, females find refuge in wood for wintering.

Paper sheets

They occupy an intermediate place between primitive solitary wasps and social vespins. There may be several mature queens in one nest, but only one plays the role of queen. The rest help her increase the population size. The number of hives reaches several hundred individuals. Otherwise, the functions of the uterus are identical to vespins.

Paper wasp queen

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.

Where do different types of wasps live?

Most often, people encounter social wild wasps. When people talk about wasps, they usually mean these insects. They received this name because they live in large families. In a friendly and large family, only a single queen can lay eggs, while the rest of the insects obtain food, guard the nest, and care for the larvae. In this large group, several families are distinguished:

• Polists. These include all known yellow-black paper wasps. They are called paper because the material from which insects build honeycombs is very similar to thin paper or parchment. Polists are divided into several hundred species, but only a few of them live near humans. This neighborhood provides them with a variety of food. Sometimes house wasps, while foraging for food, amaze with their ingenuity and fearlessness,
• Vespins. People call them hornets. Among social wasps, these insects are the largest. Hornets usually live in forests and dense bushes, but they can also be found in garden plots. The hornet family can build nests up to 80 cm in diameter. The stings of all types of wasps are dangerous to humans, but hornet venom has the most powerful effect on the body, provokes allergies, can cause anaphylactic shock and lead to death,
• Polybiins. They live in America, representatives of this species are very similar to paper wasps, common in Europe.

At first glance, the wasp house is very fragile, but it has all the conditions for the normal development of the larvae. Each comb (or cell) contains 1 egg, glued to it with glue secreted by the female. The larva, emerging from the egg, occupies the entire comb as it develops.

Wild social wasps usually choose quiet and secluded places for their nests. They can settle in animal burrows, hollows of old trees, and stumps.

Some species of solitary wasps, as opposed to social wasps, do not build nests. They find mouse holes or holes of other insects and, as a rule, drive out the owners from there. If you're lucky, the burrows may contain large larvae of other insects located in the ground at shallow depths. The wasps sting them and paralyze them with their poison. Then the female leaves the eggs inside the beetle larva, which becomes both home and food for the future wasp larva. After this, she flies away and does not care about her offspring. But nature punishes them for such carelessness: most of the larvae die from the cold.

This way of life left an imprint on the nature of their behavior. Representatives of this type are very aggressive, their bites are the most painful for humans, but at the same time they are less dangerous for him than a hornet bite: the poison is intended to euthanize the larva, so it does not cause serious consequences in humans

Solitary wasps are slightly larger than their social relatives, but their small number does not attract human attention.

Some species of solitary wasps prefer to dig holes in soft soil dug up by humans: in beds and flower beds. They like to settle on the sides of roads where bedding has been done. That's why they are called road wasps.

Many owners of summer cottages destroy wasp nests. This can only be done in late autumn, when they are empty. Do not forget what useful services wasps provide in the garden by destroying pests. Few people know that wasps destroy bedbugs and spiders, which are very problematic to fight with traditional and chemical methods.

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.

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.

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.

Wasp larvae as food reservoirs for adult insects

Interestingly, in times of famine, adult wasps belonging to collective species can use larvae as sources of food (more precisely, the nutrient fluids they secrete).

At each feeding, the adult passes chewed food to the larva, and in response it secretes saliva, which the feeder feasts on. Even if the adult wasp did not bring food, the larva will still share its secret with it. This phenomenon is called trophallaxis, and is a way to maintain the viability of an entire colony of insects during periods of prolonged rain or cold weather in the north.

The photo shows how an adult wasp feeds larvae:

Finally, the wasp larvae themselves are of gastronomic interest to many animals. Birds (for example, bee-eaters) willingly steal larvae from nests that are beginning to be built. Bears and honey badgers also enjoy destroying such nests.

And in Japan, there is a traditional dish called jibatinoko, which is wasp larvae boiled with sugar and soy sauce.

One of the most original nests is the wasp's nest. As a building material, it uses... paper, which is obtained from powdered wood fibers. Wasps master paper technology so masterfully that they can make five different types of paper - from the thinnest to cardboard.

In early spring, the female wasp begins to build a nest. To build it faster, several females often unite. One of them chooses a place on a tree branch or in some protected place (for example, in the attic of a house). From saliva congealed in air, the female makes a thin stalk, to which she attaches two wax cells. They form the basis of the future wasp's nest.

After this, the female goes in search of building material. Wasps usually use old and dry wood. The insect releases a drop of its saliva onto the wood, the wood darkens and softens. Then the wasp begins to scrape the wood with its powerful jaws, and rolls it into a small ball with its front paws. It moves along the tree like a mechanism, leaving a clearly visible mark.

Once the lump reaches the required size, the wasp carefully picks it up and carries it to the construction site. There she chews the wood again, adding secretions from a special gland to her saliva. When the ball becomes soft enough, the wasp kneads it and makes a piece of paper.

She carefully rolls it out with her front paws, achieving uniform thickness. Having attached the leaf to the future nest, the wasp starts all over again. (site note) Researchers have found that the wasp processes every detail of the nest in a special way. So, she makes the outer shell from thinner and more elastic paper, which is easy to roll out into long strips

When the ball becomes soft enough, the wasp kneads it and makes a piece of paper. She carefully rolls it out with her front paws, achieving uniform thickness. Having attached the leaf to the future nest, the wasp starts all over again. (site note) Researchers have found that the wasp processes every detail of the nest in a special way. So, she makes the outer shell from thinner and more elastic paper, which is easy to roll out into long strips.

The internal parts of the wasp's nest are made of paper, reminiscent of cardboard. Moreover, they add wood chips to it, which they specially bring to it, which makes the composition even stronger.

It happens that the wasp uses different wood. She takes raw materials from the old fence to build the outer shell of the nest. Young branches serve as a basis for the internal parts of the nest.

Simultaneously with the construction of the frame, the wasp builds honeycombs in which it lays eggs. Gradually, new wasps hatch from them, which also begin to help their mother. As soon as their number reaches ten individuals, the mother stops building the nest and is only engaged in the construction of honeycombs and laying eggs.

When it takes on a spherical shape and only a small hole remains at the bottom, the wasp begins to expand the nest. On top of the old shell she builds a new, more spacious one. Parts of an already built nest serve as raw materials for the outer shell. Usually during the summer, wasps cover the nest at least five times, gradually increasing its size.

Naturally, such a large nest is already home to many insects.

Over three summer months, one wasp can hatch up to four thousand young. But most of them soon fly away to start building their own nests. Only working individuals remain in the mother's nest, who take care of the nest and prevent it from being destroyed.

When wasps go to bed

Many people wonder when wasps go to bed, and whether they sleep at all. When touching on this issue, it should be taken into account that at a time when insects have nothing to eat, they hibernate. At the same time, their metabolism freezes, and the body does not feel temperature changes.

The body of the uterus provides it with a substance whose properties resemble antifreeze, which prevents it from freezing even in severe frosts. In such cases, a smooth change in temperature is necessary for survival to avoid death due to waking up too early.

Also, wasps always care about where they will spend the night. These can be tall plants and grasses, to which they are attached individually with their jaws and paws. Rarely, but there are cases when insects spend the night in a group.

Features of anatomy

Wasps belong to the suborder of the stalked-bellied Hymenoptera, and only by looking at the features of the internal structure of the wasp, you can understand why this order got its name. Between the belly and chest of this insect there is a rather narrow “waist”, and some wasps (species of which you can see photos above) generally have an almost invisible “stalk” instead of a waist.

Thanks to this feature, wasps are able to almost fold their own body in half, and also have the ability to sting the victim at any desired angle. Due to this, they can win fights even with some of those insects that are noticeably larger than them.

The body of the wasp is divided into three distinct segments - the abdomen, thorax and head, and it is worth noting that the body is covered with a fairly strong chitinous skeleton. The head is quite mobile, and is equipped with two antennae, which are responsible for a fairly large number of different functions, including capturing air vibrations and odors, as well as assessing the taste of liquid food or even measuring the length of honeycombs in nests.

Preventative measures against annoying neighbors

Paper wasps are troublesome neighbors. They spoil fruits on trees, bite people, and intrusively climb on sweet food. To reduce the likelihood of them settling near the house or under its roof, it is advisable to destroy the nest. Knowing what wasps do in winter, you can safely cut down the structure and burn it. At this time, you do not risk getting bitten by a stinging insect. Females do not settle in the old nest, but build a new one in their usual place. If you treat the area where the building was located with an unpleasant-smelling compound (kerosene, machine oil, dichlorvos), the queen will fly away to look for a more suitable shelter.

To deprive wintering wasps of shelter on the site, certain work should be done:

• collect and burn dry leaves;
• remove rotten stumps and cut trees;
• do not leave boards or slate sheets on the ground, under which insects seek shelter for the winter;
• pour boiling water over compost heaps;
• You can begin preparing material for the traps that will be needed to protect the crop.

Fighting stinging insects after the onset of cold weather is absolutely safe. They remain in a state of diapause until April-May. Only with the onset of warm weather (+14 0) will the queens wake up and begin creating a new colony. Preventive measures will help reduce the number of insects that survive until spring.

What happens if you kill a queen wasp?

The death of the uterus inevitably leads to the cessation of the family's existence. Working individuals gradually leave the nest, weak ones die of hunger. Empty shelters are often taken over by parasites. If there are any offspring left in it, they die from the invaders. Only young females survive, capable of reproduction, who will leave the shelter and manage to build a new one.

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.

What to do with a wasp nest in an apartment?

If a wasp's nest happens to be near the house, under the eaves or on the balcony of a city apartment, this becomes a problem for people. How to remove a nest and not suffer from the bites of its angry inhabitants:

• Cover the house with a bag containing a piece of cloth soaked in insecticide. When all individuals die, remove the nest.
• Burn the structure or pour boiling water over it. First you need to dress in thick clothes.
• Inject a repellent into the nest. Wasps will not return home after this treatment.

Safety precautions when destroying wasp nests

First of all, make sure that your body reacts calmly to the bites of these insects. The test is performed by an allergist. If you have an allergic reaction, never remove the nest yourself.

1. Take care of protective clothing. Cover all areas of your body as much as possible.

Protect your eyes with regular ski goggles or wear a beekeeping mask. When using insecticides, use old, unusable clothing; you may have to throw it away after the procedure. Do not use a ladder if the nest is high; if the wasps attack, you may fall and be seriously injured. Whatever method you use, before starting the event, make sure that there are no children playing nearby or pets. Make an escape plan, if something goes wrong you will have to retreat. You can repeat the procedure after a few hours. Act quickly before the wasps react to the danger. Warn your neighbors about the event.

They need to close the windows and, if possible, not go outside.

Do not kill the wasp if it was able to fly out of the nest; when the insect dies, it releases a substance that will provoke the entire swarm to attack you. Waving your arms or anything else only angers the insects.

• Remember that if you destroy a wasp nest on your own, you may be bitten very badly; once again, think about calling a specialist.
• If wasps are guests in your area, use spirals or fumigators.
• The best time to fight wasps is the beginning of the year and at night.
• Wasps are sensitive to light; you should not shine a flashlight into their nest.
• In winter, throw out empty nests and clean the surface where they were attached.
• Inspect your home from time to time and promptly eliminate holes and cracks.
• Close trash cans tightly and collect fallen fruit from the ground.
• Place a couple of fakes in the form of a nest on the site. Wasps do not settle in places where there is already a colony of insects living in the area.

What to do if bitten by a wasp?

The greatest chance of getting bitten is in mid-summer. Mature individuals feed on sweet fruits and berries, so you can most often encounter a dangerous insect in the garden. Only females inflict painful bites: the sting is an ovipositor modified in the process of evolution. The smooth weapon quickly moves out of the body, having delivered a blow, and just as quickly retracts back. Sometimes she is able to make several attacks until her poison supply is depleted.

Having removed the stinging weapon, the undamaged wasp flies away, unlike a bee, which has serrations on the sting that prevent it from being removed from the victim’s body, which leads to the death of the beneficial insect.

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.

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The distinguishing signs of a wasp sting are:

• Instant redness and swelling of the bite site;
• The pain is accompanied by severe itching;
• The appearance of an allergic reaction;
• The whole body begins to itch, a rash appears;
• In the place where the sting occurs, acute pain appears;
• Anaphylactic shock.

Additionally, the following may appear:

• severe dizziness;
• vomiting, nausea;
• acceleration or deceleration of heart rate;
• increase in temperature.

Note! The most dangerous symptom is considered to be anaphylactic shock, which most often affects allergy sufferers. Moreover, if qualified medical care is not provided within a short time, a person may die from a wasp sting

Nest construction

Wasps build their nest, as a rule, together, but the initial construction is always carried out by the female alone - the founder of the entire colony. She also feeds the first hatched larvae. These larvae subsequently grow into working individuals, which help the female in further construction.

Females begin to build a new nest in early spring, immediately after waking up from winter sleep. Having emerged from its hiding place, the founding wasp flies in search of a suitable place for the nest - it must be protected from wind, direct sunlight and prying eyes. They often choose a tree branch with a dense crown, an abandoned building, or the attic of a private house. Sometimes construction can even begin on the surface of a large stone, in an abandoned burrow of some rodent, in a rotten stump, in a hollow tree, or behind the siding of a residential building.

The first “brick” of a wasp’s nest is a thin thread of frozen sticky secretion, which the female attaches to the selected surface. Further, this thread gradually turns into a clearly visible “leg”, to which the first two cells are initially attached, and then the entire structure.

Construction material

So, what do wasps make nests from? The starting material for construction is various wood elements obtained by wasps from old stumps, trees, fences, various wooden buildings, etc. That is why the color of the nest is always predominantly gray.

How is the “production” of paper from which wasps build their nests? Having found a suitable source material, the insect sits down, releases a drop of its own saliva onto its surface and, backing away, begins to scrape off the finest wood fibers. The wasp is helped in this by its powerful jaws. Having collected a sufficient amount of material, the insect flies to the site where the nest is being built, where this lump is once again processed by the jaws and abundantly moistened with sticky secretion.

When the building material reaches the required consistency, the wasp sits on the edge of one of the cells of the nest, presses a lump of chewed wood against it and, backing away, stretches it into a thin strip, after which it takes the edge with its jaws and rolls the material in a perpendicular direction. Thus, the thinnest paper wall of the next cell is obtained.

This is interesting! Wasps can produce paper of varying densities - both very thin, almost transparent, and a fairly strong version, similar to cardboard!

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.

A bite of an insect

Social wasps attack humans more often than other species. This is due to their nest-protecting instinct and aggressive nature. At the end of spring and beginning of summer, the queen makes many flights, taking care of feeding her offspring. Any actions in her direction may provoke the use of a sting. A wasp sting in a healthy person causes a local reaction characterized by redness and pain. Such manifestations disappear after a few hours, less often days.

The wound must be lubricated with an antiseptic composition - alcohol tincture, iodine, hydrogen peroxide. Pathogenic microorganisms can be carried with the sting. Allergy to uterine wasp venom occurs in 1-2% of people; it manifests itself with varying degrees of severity. This may include hives, dizziness, rapid heartbeat, and swelling of the larynx is especially dangerous. If these symptoms appear, you must take an antihistamine and go to the hospital.

The wasp queen plays a major role in the establishment and development of the colony. This is the only female in the family capable of laying eggs. The loss of the queen leads to the decline of the swarm. Other females can transform a non-functioning ovary into an ovipositor, but due to the lack of sperm they will give birth to exclusively males. Such a family has no chance to continue the family line.

Variety of species

The wasps that are familiar to most of us and have yellow and black stripes on their bodies are called paper wasps. This species name is due to the fact that the material from which insects build their homes is very similar to paper. It is made from wood fibers chewed by arthropods, which are glued together with saliva.

Other types of wasps have different colors. The size of the insect depends on its species. They range from 1.5 cm to 10 cm. What do wasps eat? The adult eats mainly liquid food - nectar, fruit juice. For their larvae, wasps get: flies and other insects. Predatory wasps themselves eat insects, and can also feed on other types of food.

The wasp catches its prey and injects its poison into it through its sting, which does not kill, but only paralyzes. Thus, the meat of the prey is kept fresh until the time of the meal.

Different types of wasps live almost everywhere. For example, ground wasps choose soil to build their “homes”. Paper wasps build their “family nest” under a tree branch or on any structure. It should be noted that wasps are very willing to settle near people. This proximity makes it much easier for them to find food.

The wasp eats sweets and other foods left in a visible place in a person’s home. But also, it catches pests there such as flies, which carry various infections and thereby brings benefits. In the garden, wasps can find not only flies and ants, but also a huge number of insects that are pests. Wasps love honey very much and therefore pose a threat to bees.

The queen is the largest individual of the paper wasp family. The length of its body is approximately 20 millimeters, while the body length of a working wasp or drone is about 18 millimeters. Females have a larger abdomen than males. Insects do not differ in body color by gender. Males and females have the same yellow and black striped color.

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:

1. The body consists of three clearly distinguishable segments - the head, thorax and abdomen, which are supported by a strong external chitinous skeleton.
2. 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.
3. 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.

How do they reproduce?

Towards the end of the warm period, workers add large honeycombs to the nests. All this is necessary for the queen to lay eggs. Then, within 20 days, females and males are born, which are called drones. By the end of August, the young offspring need to be well fed in order to get stronger. All this time they are protected by the roof of the nest. With the arrival of autumn, drones begin to mate. At one time, the male fertilizes the uterus with so much biomaterial that she can lay eggs throughout her life.

Reproduction of wasps

The predecessors of drones are not able to survive frosts, so they die. After the wasps reproduce, the young female is able to fall asleep, lay eggs again when spring arrives, and reproduce. Moreover, during all the warm months, only worker wasps are born. Fertile offspring appear only with the arrival of August. The timing of the mating season may also explain why wasps attack people for no reason and are especially active and aggressive towards other insects.

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.