Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with wasp

Can Anyone Identify This Wasp?

Seeba — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 07:39:55 -0800

Can anyone identify this wasp? Can anyone identify this wasp?

A friend got stung, and though I'm not terribly worried, I want to make sure it's not going to give him The Death.

Thanks!

Wasp squatters need eviction

barc0001 — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 12:45:08 -0800

Looking to remove two wasp nests, but the location makes standard tactics not viable. I have a storage shed in my back yard that I well.. store things in. I've noticed over the last couple of weeks that there were a few wasps hanging around its general vicinity while I was out in the yard but didn't think too much of it until I saw a few fly in to the shed through gaps. I came back late that night since I needed something from the shed anyway and pointed a flashlight around looking to see what the little beggars were up to and on the ceiling I see not one, but two nests. They are currently small, one about golf ball sized, and the other about 1.5x that size. Now, I don't know if both are active nests or just one since it was late at night and all the wasps are asleep I guess. I have a huge phobia about wasps and going back in the day for recon just doesn't sound like a Good Idea to me.

Past removal techniques have usually involved hot flaming death in liquid form and were highly successful. However, that's not really an option in a small (8'x12') space full of my stuff. Same goes for using poison foam/sprays as I don't want that all over my stuff either. There's also the complication with a poison foam spray of there being two potential targets and what if both are active and have some sort of mutual defense treaty or similar. The shed is located in such a place in my yard with a hill that quick retreat in the face of a non-poisoned nest response team is a challenging task. So poison foam is out. I then thought about someone's suggestion to use the shop vac on the nests, but again the two targets presents an issue with a potential angry response from the unengaged target.

One crazy thought that either occurred to me directly or was influenced by something I heard/read elsewhere was to take my garden hose and throw the hose end in through a small gap in the shed's doorway at night, then take the other end of the hose and attach it to my tailpipe and let the car idle for about a half hour or so on the idea that the CO from the tailpipe will do in all the wasps and then go in the next day with the shop vac and take down the nests. There's no risk to neighborhood cats or animals as the shed gaps are only about the size of a quarter or smaller, no way someone's cat will accidentally be collateral damage. Can anyone see a glaring fault with this plan (like it just won't kill the wasps), or does anyone have a better idea to eliminate 2 separate nests in the same confined space safely?

Wasps on the mind

punishinglemur — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 20:01:49 -0800

Wasp problem: They're in my room, I have a phobia. What to do? It seems my dorm has developed a wasp problem. About a week and a half ago, I discovered one in my windowsill. It was moving around very slowly, as if it was debilitated. To deal with this situation, I first stumbled backwards, falling over and knocking over a fan. Then, I slammed the window shut as hard as I could and then sat around trying to cool down. My window was open in winter because the heat in this building is way too high, to the point where it's unbearably hot without an open window.

I was surprised to find a wasp because at the time it was a cold February in the midwest. I live in a small single room (all of eight feet wide, approximately). I was freaked out for a while, but I got over it. Until tonight, when I saw one flying around my room. I ran out, slammed the door, and I'm now in an, uh, undisclosed location.

This presents a problem. I'm absolutely terrified of returning to my room. It's completely debilitated me. The thought of going back is laughable. Every little movement I see from the corner of my eye gives me a jolt and the sweats -- it could be a wasp! Every little tingle or brush I feel on my skin, like when my arm brushes against my shirt, has the same effect -- it's gotta be the wasp! Even if I did manage to make it inside my room, it's still there. If I see it again, I'll flee again. If I don't that's almost worse: is it in my blankets? My coat? My shoes? Everything I touch or move is suspect.

Worse yet, I've never been stung and I have no idea if I'm allergic or not. This only serves to amplify my fears.

I have no idea what to do right now -- I feel lost and helpless. It's hard to get across in words just how completely debilitating this wasp situation is. What is the best way for me to get rid of it, especially if I can't see it? How can I convince the school to take action on this? They've said they will be getting it looked at, but more immediate action of... some sort, I don't know what, would be appreciated. Finally, how do I keep myself from dying if I do end up getting stung by this unwanted guest?

Yeouch

thanotopsis — Tue, 23 Sep 2008 15:19:57 -0800

I have wasps on the outside of my house, on the southern facing side only, so I'm assuming that they're basking in the last burst of warmth. However, it's getting so bad, that I'm worried about potential overlaps in the wasp/human worlds. Over the weekend, I've gone through 3 cans of "kill on contact" wasp spray -- the kind that you spray at a distance. Typically, I can spray a bunch of the wasps gathering on my house, and most of them will fall to the ground and writhe around and die.

This doesn't seem to have dented the population any, however. They keep showing up, and it doesn't matter that the walls of the house are now coated with this poison.

Is this just a seasonal thing that I have to put up with, like the Asian beetles looking for warmth as Fall sets in? I'm only really worried about the issue when they fly into the house through an open door or a hole in a window screen. With more and more of them collecting on the side of the house, this is becoming more of a concern.

Chapter Five: I Am Attacked By Wasps

potsmokinghippieoverlord — Wed, 06 Aug 2008 17:09:51 -0800

Why did the wasps attack me? What are these wasps? And am I a marked person? Shall I seek revenge? I was walking home from getting a pedicure late yesterday afternoon, and walked past the local wasp nest. It's a hole in the ground, surrounded by little stones. When I first spotted it some weeks ago, I thought it was some sort of rat or snake hole, but noticed a few wasps lazily drifting in and out. I thought, well, nice, circle of life, pollinating the world, etc. etc.

So yesterday, I walked by and thought, "Hmm, it's a bit busy at Ye Olde Wasp Hole and HEY OW OW OW OW OW OW" -- I was stung by one, and then immediately stung by several others, (six stings in all), even as I walked briskly away. Even a quarter of a mile away, I was buzzed by a rather angry wasp. Criminy!

The stings were more hot and pinchy at the time, and then raised welts appeared, which we treated with ice and vinegar. They're now a bit itchy, although the redness has subsided.

Now, I was wearing dark clothes, and no perfume per se (although there was lotion used on my legs at the pedicure place).

My husband (after cautiously examining me for any errant stingy things) took a quick look online and announced that if one swats at a wasp and causes it to sting, it leaves a scent that attracts other wasps to attack (sort of a "O HAI HERE IZ SUCKER 2 BITEZ" sign) -- is this true? Is there a half-life to this scent? Another wasp had a go at me this morning (I was far away from the wasp hole) and I wonder if the scent is still clinging to my backpack.

And we did they attack me? Was I just unlucky? I didn't see anything like a kid nearby who may have poked at the hole, or maybe a very bad dog. And what sort of wasps build holes in the ground surrounded by stone defenses, anyway? The wasps of my Southern California youth were paper wasps that built nests under the eaves.

Lastly -- should I contact the city about this (I live in Walnut Creek, CA)? The wasp hole is next to a curb on a street near a well-used paved trail. Luckily I am not allergic to stings, but what if someone else came along who wasn't so lucky? What if it were a small child or an elderly person? My preference is to leave the hole alone, but is it a threat?

Description of the creatures:
:: yellow & black bands
:: live in a hole in the ground surrounded by lots of carefully-arranged pebbles
:: VERY VERY STINGY

Signed,

Ouch Ouch Ouch Ouch Ouch Ouch

Name that Central Texas wasp

fructose — Sun, 06 Jan 2008 08:08:00 -0800

Central Texas wasp ID? Small, gray, found indoors hovering around lights? I am having a hard time identifying what kind of waspish insect I am seeing in my house in Austin, Texas. I've lived in Austin my entire life, but I've never seen any wasp of this type.

Every few days to few weeks I will see a single gray wasp-type insect about 3/4 to 1 inch long. Usually it is in the bathroom around the light fixture. It is not aggressive as far as I can tell. My roommate spraying it with wasp killer a few times usually does the trick.

I am terrified of wasps after being stung in the eyelid when I was little, even of wasp-looking things that dont sting, so I really would prefer these weren't in the house.

When we first moved in in August, there were some abandoned mud dauber-type nests on the doors and all around the porch that we got rid of, but no signs of the bugs themselves.

Any clue what we've got here? I've googled and googled and looked at field guides online, and the closest I can think of is the cicada killer, but my wasps seem too small to be those or typical mud daubers.

Is the Wasp Factory as bad as it seems?

croutonsupafreak — Mon, 29 Oct 2007 07:20:01 -0800

Does the book "The Wasp Factory" get any better or less upsetting as it goes? (Minor spoilers only, please.) I picked up The Wasp Factory after it was recommended in this thread, and I've made it about 50 pages in so far. I'm an animal lover and a vegetarian, and the graphic cruelty in this book is making my physically ill, nauseous and upset.

I know that some people seem to think this book is great. I am trying to spend this year reading great books that do new things with language and form, but I have no respect whatsoever for the visceral reaction this book is eliciting from me.

Can anyone who has finished it tell me if it redeems itself at all? Should I continue reading? (Please don't spoil it, if it's worth sticking with.)

What are these horror creatures?

stammer — Sat, 13 Jan 2007 23:57:17 -0800

What are these two terrifying invertebrates? They live in rural southeastern Australia. They're bigger than they look in the photo; the spider's legspan was about two inches. The wasp-like creature had killed the spider and was dragging him backwards on the ground. The spider looks like a wolf spider to me, but he was about the size of a huntsman. I've never seen the flying beast before. When I interrupted them, he started flying around, and his wings were big enough to make one of those deeply unsettling hums that could be heard from a few feet away.

Can I eat a live wasp?

sleslie — Mon, 21 Aug 2006 11:14:04 -0800

Can I eat a live wasp? If so, what would the safest method of eating it?

I've pissed off the local yellowjacket population.

Salmonberry — Sat, 05 Aug 2006 19:32:55 -0800

Exposed a Yellowjacket nest in the backyard. How do I get rid of many pissed off wasps? I was moving a tarp that had been sitting in a corner of the yard. When I flipped it over wasps came flying out. The nest is small, not much bigger than an orange. I'd say about 100 wasps all told. I was able to get inside the house without getting stung.

The nest is now exposed to the elements, which I suppose might help, but what to do now? Most extermination guides say to use dust, but now that the nest is face up, dust will just blow off of it. My main concern is that they'll just try to settle in another part of the tarp.

Obviously I'm not going anywhere near it until the sun goes down, and even then I'm not a fan of wasp stings.

Will the fact that the nest is exposed mean that the colony will leave on it's own, or should I plan more aggressive measures? I can't leave it be, it's now right next to where we sit out on the patio. It's an us or them situation.

Yellow Jacket in the House

javelina — Tue, 02 Aug 2005 21:59:51 -0800

We have a wasp/hornet/yellow jacket in our house. How do we get rid of it? We have a wasp/hornet/yellow jacket in our house. We need to know how to get rid of it. My wife is allergic to bee stings. We live in a two story town house, and it was last seen in the one of the windows over the stairs, too far to reach with a fly swatter or even a broom. What should we do?