All posts in “hornets”

Wasps

Wasps

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Wasps

Did you know they are almost all female, the original wasp builds the first paper nests and starts laying eggs. The initial generations then start helping Mom, they tend to all the duties and Mom is available to just lay eggs. I will tell you that I think they are the most vicious in general of the stingers out there. They always seem to give you that look, if you get close. I’ve encountered Bald-faced Hornets (ground type) and even they weren’t as nasty. I also think the toughest wasps are those in bushes, you can’t see them and they attack without warning. A friend in Ireland had some issues with wasps, check it out?

Did you know?

  1.  Only the females have stingers.
  2.  Wasps can sting multiple times, not honeybees.
  3.  They hunt and eat almost every kind of insect.
  4.  No they don’t create honey, they feed their young meat.
  5.  They eat a lot of insects that might damage agricultural plants, the food we might eat.
  6.  No matter how many wasps are in a nest, only 1 is the Queen.
  7.  Wasps are social insects like ants.
  8.  Near the end of summer some eggs start forming into fertile Queens with some males, they then over winter and start again
  9.  There are over 120, 000 species of wasp worldwide.
  10.  They come in lots of colors.

 

Kings of Pain

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Kings of Pain tv show, you have got to watch this show. These two guys inflect pain upon themselves and then rate the pain on 3 levels – intensity, duration and damage 1 -10. They expand on the work of Justin O. Smith 1-4 with his pain scale. Now just so you know, I’m a wimp when it comes to pain. I think by now you should realize that men are babies, I can be a home sick and continue to moan as if there was someone home to hear me.

So I hear about these stings, I have been stung a few times by bees or hornets but nothing serious. Now I’m not downplaying the issues some people have with one sting but apparently I can get through several.

Now look at the stinger on this Tarantula Hawk, wowzers. This menacing bug ambushes tarantulas, lays an egg on it after stinging it and paralyzing it and the baby grows up on tarantula meat. This flying little bugs rarely mess with us, but if you provoke them watch out for that stinger. So give the Kings of Pain a look and see what you think?

Does it takes just one sting?

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Whether its honeybees, wasps, hornets or scorpions its the sting that will get you. I don’t think anyone of us enjoys accidentally getting stung by something but to many it just takes one sting and we go into anaphylactic shock. Until I read this article about the “Canadian Mayor dies after wasp attack” I didn’t or couldn’t remember that one sting might not kill you but the next might trigger that anaphylactic shock. That is why we must all be aware of our surroundings whether hiking, camping or just out for a stroll around your home.

Did you know honeybees have a stinger that is barbed, so one sting and they give up their life for the colony while wasps, hornets and scorpions can continue to sting. Paperwasps sometimes look like they are watching you as walk around or into the path where their nests is. I don’t think it is a death watch its just that they are protecting their nests. So be warned and stay clear if possible.

52_Yellowjacket

Photo by PPMA

Whose coming to your picnic?

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Whose coming to your picnic?

 

So you spend all day planning this picnic, you spend all day making sandwiches and all that goes with it – you don’t want pests showing up uninvited. So what can you except in the way of pests?

Ants – well we all know what happens when you spill some food, the ants come ing in to steal your picnic food.

ant1

Bees, wasps and hornets – one lone bee or wasp finds the source of the food and they go back home to tell everyone else.

Flies – nothing more disgusting than flies, trust me on this one.  fly

What happens when you get stung?

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What happens when you get stung?

Food allergy is the leading cause of anaphylaxis; however, medications, insect stings, and latex can also cause an allergic reaction that leads to anaphylaxis.

I found this article in Pest Management Professional magazine November 2012 and they listed the source http://www.niaid.nih.gov the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.

  • Allergies to venom of stinging insects such as honeybees, wasps, hornet, yellowjackets, scorpions and fireants
  • Systemic reactions in adults ranging from 3.3% to 5%
  • 40 to 100 deaths annually from anaphylaxis

When stung call 911 or Poison Control immediatley if you are a known allergic or if you experience symptoms.

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