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Q. I was getting ready to water my garden when I was stung by a red wasp. I looked up and realized there’s a paper wasp nest near the faucet. I’ve tried to get rid of wasps around my house, but haven’t been successful. I’d like to find out more about them.
A. In his reference book “Insects of Texas,” David H. Kattes writes: “Almost everyone who has ventured outdoors (in Texas) is painfully familiar with the paper wasp. These social insects build papery nests made from chewed wood, leaves, and other locally available materials. All species share the characteristic of folding their wings lengthwise when at rest.
Polistes carolina is reddish and often referred to as "red wasp." Polistes exclamans is another common paper wasp in Texas but is often incorrectly referred to as "yellow jacket."
All vespids (wasps, hornets and yellowjackets) are predators of other insects, particularly Lepidoptera (butterfly and moth) caterpillars, and are considered beneficial.
C. Malcolm Beck and John Howard Garrett’s “Texas Bug Book: The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly” start with an overview on paper wasps.
Red wasps build nests in sheltered spots under the eaves and overhangs of buildings. Texas yellowjackets are similar but live in nests in the ground and are more aggressive. Both are economically important because they control several caterpillars that are agricultural pests.
Spiders are the natural enemies of wasps. But, according to the authors, the wasp’s most serious enemies are human with aerosol spray cans.
Beck and Garrett suggest that you can avoid insecticide use by splashing water on the nest to knock wasps off. The wasps will fall to the ground and won’t be able to fly until their wings dry. The nest can be nailed in a safer, shady, out of the way location. The wasps will find their nest and settle as if nothing had happened. The authors add, “Don’t try this if you’re allergic to wasp stings or if you are chicken.”
Soapy water or citrus oil products are organic control options, but the authors remind us that these insects are very beneficial.
Beck clearly likes wasps. He writes: “Even the stinging wasps like yellowjackets sting only if you threaten them, and the mud dauber only if you try to catch it. The mud dauber’s favorite food is the black widow spider.
“Most wasps are beneficial — probably all of them, even the stinging kind. A favorite food of wasps is the tent caterpillar and fall webworm, which often disfigures pecan, fruit, and shade trees. Wasps like all caterpillars.
“Through studying, observing, and actually playing with wasps, I have learned that they only sting when they sense their nest is being threatened. Don’t threaten them, not even mentally; they can sense your feelings.”
Beck goes on to tell of how he accidentally bumped a wasp nest with at least 60 wasps: “As soon as I realized what I had done, I froze. It took all the nerve I had, but I stood very still as the wasps flew around me and bumped into my face and bare arms. Still, I didn’t get a single sting. I waited a couple of minutes until they were all settled back on the nest and then I slowly moved on.
“Realizing how beneficial wasps are, I have been protecting them for 25 years. We now have 270 pecan trees here on the farm and the wasps keep the trees almost completely clean of webworms. Our neighbors have more webworms in one tree than we have on the whole farm.
“When the wasps catch a webworm or other troublesome worm, they rip the worm open and dig out balls of meat to feed their young larva. The adult wasp is a vegetarian and eats very little, usually nectar from flowers. In the process, they do a little pollinating as well. They often get blamed for damaging fruit such as peaches and plums, but in fact they are only drinking juice at a hole in the fruit that a bird pecked.”
Beck and Garrett scatter such stories throughout their book. It is very readable and promotes organic responses to problem insects in the home and garden. If you are an organic gardener or have an interest in entomology, you should enjoy this book, and we can give you the library’s username and password for login.
