Wasps

Wasps  come in many types and sizes. The ones that are of most concern to people because of their stinging habits are yellowjackets and hornets. Their social organizations range from cooperative fertile female paper wasps to the caste system of yellowjackets, in which there is a single fertile queen and a large population of smaller unmated females. Some social wasps are predators for most or all of the year and provide a great benefit by killing large numbers of plant-feeding insects and nuisance flies; others are exclusively scavengers. Yellow jackets will also forage on foods that people eat, especially sweets and meats.

Due to their size and coloration these wasps are often mistaken for bees. Bees are not nearly as aggressive and are valued as major pollinators as well as honey producers.

All wasps will defend their nests, but the Yellow Jackets and hornets are the most aggressive. They can be distinguished from bees by their thin "waists." Bees are thick-waisted. They fold their wings lengthwise when at rest.    The yellow jacket colony will remain active for only one summer, after which the queens will fly away to start more colonies. The remaining ones, die at the end of the summer, the nest is not reused.

Wasps become a problem only when they threaten to sting humans. One of the most troublesome of the social wasps is the yellowjacket. Yellowjackets, especially ground- and cavity-nesting ones such as the western yellowjacket, tend to defend their nests vigorously when disturbed. Defensive behavior increases as the season progresses and colony populations become larger while food becomes scarcer. In fall, foraging yellowjackets are primarily scavengers and they start to show up at picnics, barbecues, around garbage cans, at dishes of dog or cat food placed outside, and where ripe or overripe fruit are accessible. At certain times and places, the number of scavenger wasps can be quite large.