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The Fall Transformation – Paper Wasps and
Yellowjackets
uring the Spring and Summer
months, social wasps such as
Paper wasps and Yellowjackets
Dare busy building their nest
and gathering food to feed their brood.
Although they will protect their nest
and sting if they feel threatened, they
are fairly passive. Some of you may be
thinking right now, please define fairly
passive! That’s understandable, but
please read on.
As Fall approaches, many of these
colonies reach their maximum size and
begin to decrease in size because there
are no more workers being reared. The During the Fall, the workers are out
only ones left to feed are the future looking for food and may become a
developing queens and food is beginning nuisance during Autumn outdoor activities.
to get harder to find. They are very aggressive at this time and
Paper wasps feed their larvae liquefied will sting if agitated. During this time
insects such as caterpillars, but as adults of the year, they have a very important
they feed on nectar. On the other hand, job to do and that is gathering food for
Yellowjackets will feed on insects, carrion, the future reproductive larvae back in
fruit, sap and plant nectar. The photo the nest. They will take sips from your
shows Eastern Yellowjackets gathering favorite beverage and help themselves to
meat from the remains of a snake to take your sandwich, as well. So, be careful!
back to their larvae. Your favorite beverage may be too much
of an invitation for them. They will readily
fly into the can or glass to collect liquid. If
you unsuspectingly take a drink while the
insect is there, you may ingest it into your
mouth, or worse, into your stomach. This
is a very dangerous situation. You may be
stung repeatedly before the insect dies.
It’s hard to imagine how painful a sting
would be in your esophagus or stomach!!
Once the reproductives mature, they
leave the nest and mate, becoming
less aggressive once again. The males
(Continued on page 6)
IPMA Connection • 2nd Quarter, 2021 Page 5
