Wasps & Hornets

What Purpose do Wasps Serve? Very often people ask us what purpose do wasps serve? In early summer wasps, like bees, pollinate plants and flowers as they feed on nectar. If we were to eradicate all wasps, it would cause more problems than it would solve. So, wasps do serve a purpose, and despite being a problem at certain times of the year, they are a beneficial insect. So in the natural world, wasps although irritating to humans, have their role to play. Wasps and hornets are predatory insects and spend a lot of their time hunting and catching smaller insects to feed to their larvae (young wasp grubs). Insect prey killed by the adult wasps is chewed up into small food packages and taken back to the nest. These food parcels are then fed to the young wasp larvae which turn the exoskeletons (chitin) of these prey insects into a sugary solution which they feed back to the adult wasps. It is difficult to guess the exact numbers of insects which are killed by a single wasp colony through the course of a summer. It has been suggested that a single wasp nest will catch approx five metric tons of insects in one year. While we are not entirely convinced of that number whatever it is, it will be substantial.

Which wasps are a nuisance? As pest controllers, we are mainly called to deal with three types of social wasps which form colonies. There are many other types of wasps in the UK, but these are mostly solitary wasps. The primary nuisance wasps are: The common wasp (Vespa Vulgaris) How can we identify a common wasp?

Face view of common wasp, notice the anchor marking. German wasps (Vespa Germanica) The German wasp builds its nest in bushes and trees. It is slightly larger than the common wasp and darker in colour. The Hornet (Vespa Crabro) The hornet is noticeably bigger than your average wasp and can be an inch or more in length. They tend to have more red colouring. Face view of the hornet. The Median wasp.

This is a social wasp like the common or European wasp, but most years it is normally out competed by the other species.

Are Hornets a wasp? Hornets although much larger than regular wasps, are themselves classed as wasps (order: Hymenoptera). They are predatory insects in the same way as common or German wasps but predate on larger insects. They will attack a wasp nest and kill the adult wasps. They then raid the nest and take the wasp larvae back to their own nest as a food source for their young. Hornets are also known to attack honey bee hives for the same purpose, although honey bees do have a defence against single hornet attacks which surprisingly is that honey bees can survive a higher temperature than hornets. When a predatory hornet is detected in a honey bee hive, the bees will attack the intruder and "ball" it (they swarm around the hornet). Then using the muscles in their bodies to produce heat, they raise the temperature higher than the hornet can withstand; in essence, cooking it alive. The hornet nest, although large in size, doesn’t hold as many individuals as a common wasp nest; usually only 300 or so individuals. The Hornet