Texas Gardening: Where are all the wasps this year?, 1 by GD_Rankin

GD_Rankin wrote:
Is it just me and/or my area . . . or is anyone else noticing a shortage of wasps? Normally there are loads of Yellow Jackets, Mud Dobbers and those big red wasps all over by this time of year.

I live out in the country a bit and there are always more than enough wasps to go around. Under the eves of the house, in the barns, under turned over buckets, etc. you can usually find a Yellow Jacket nest (wether you want to or not) and the mud dobbers have a habit of getting in every tiny hole in everything that you'd rather they didn't. Normally I have to tape or cover everything I don't want clogged with mud. The red wasps are usually almost as abundant as the smaller yellow ones and pack twice the punch.

Now don't get me wrong, I've seen a few around in the fields or hitting the flowers, but I don't think I've seen a single nest anywhere all year. I have about 5% of the usual mud dobber beads along the usual places and I know it's not ONLY the drought causing their absence. We've had many years with little rain and that's never stopped them from finding a water source before.

As a result of their low numbers, the house fly and mosquito (a favorite diet for wasp larva) populations seem to be worse than in recent memory. I'm just curious if it's just me and my area or if anyone else has noticed that where they are?