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Wasps
Click here for Wasp proofing
Biology: Wasps are probably the most familiar and generally disliked of all British insects. Their bodies bear the characteristic black and yellow bands and they have a narrow waist in the middle of the body. The worker is
10-15mm in length and the queen is usually 20mm in length, both have two pairs of wings which lock together. Only females have the ability to sting, the stinger being near the tip of the abdomen. They build their nests
underground or in the cavities of trees, walls and other parts of buildings. Whilst they are generally disliked because of their sting, this will only be used by most species when the wasp is aroused or frightened.
The benefits from wasps are not, however, so widely appreciated for in the spring and early summer wasp grubs are fed on other inspect pests. The queen emerges from the nest in the autumn and after mating
selects a suitable site for hibernation. Late in the following spring, hibernation comes to an end and the surviving queens select a nest site. The nest is usually located in the ground or in roof cavities and is built from
wood pulp which is moulded into the outer shell of the nest and contains many internal chambers. The queen lays an egg into each of the chambers and these hatch into larvae which are fed by the queen on dead
insects. When fully grown the larvae pupate and from the pupae sterile workers emerge. These workers assist in rearing new larvae and the new queens. Towards the end of the summer the queen lays a number of
ggs which produce male wasps and these mate with the new queens. As the weather becomes colder in late autumn, all the wasps die except the new queens which fly away to find sites for hibernation.
The old nests are not re-used the following year.
Control: The nest can be treated with an approved insecticide dust. A single treatment will normally suffice, and destruction of the nest normally takes 4-8 hours depending on how active the nest is.
On very rare occasions if the nest is difficult to access then a second treatment may be required. If the nest is to be removed then this will involve a second visit. The use of wasp traps strategically placed can intercept
workers flying from the nest to the feeding site to reduce wasp numbers.
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Wasps Cambridgeshire
- Cambridge
- Chatteris
- Ely
- Huntingdon
- March
- Market Deeping
- Oundle
- Peterborough
- Ramsey
- Soham
- St Neots
- Whittlesey
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Wasps Essex
- Basildon
- Benfleet
- Bishops Stortford
- Braintree
- Brentwood
- Canvey Island
- Chelmsford
- Clacton
- Colcester
- Great Dunmow
- Halstead
- Harlow
- Harwich
- Leigh on sea
- Maldon
- Rayleigh
- Rochford
- Saffron Walden
- Southend
- Stansted
- Thorpe Bay
- Tiptree
- Walton on Naze
- Westcliff on Sea
- Witham
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Wasps Norfolk
- Acle
- Aylsham
- Dereham
- Diss
- Downham Market
- Fakenham
- Gorleston
- Great Yarmouth
- Holt
- Hunstanton
- Kings Lynn
- North Walsham
- Norwich
- Sheringham
- Stalham
- Swaffham
- Thetford
- Watton
- Wisbech
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Wasps Suffolk
- Aldeburgh
- Beccles
- Brandon
- Bungay
- Bury St Edmunds
- Clare
- Eye
- Felixstowe
- Framlingham
- Harleston
- Haverhill
- Ipswich
- Lakenheath
- Lavenham
- Lowestoft
- Mildenhall
- Needham Market
- Newmarket
- Saxmundham
- Southwold
- Stowmarket
- Sudbury
- Wickham Market
- Woodbridge
- Yoxford
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