I've read numerous times about butterflies falling prey to wasps...what kind(s) of wasps?
Suzy
What wasps are the bad wasps?
Suzy, Here it is the Paper Wasp... I got a butterfly net for when I see them patrolling where they shouldn't...mwahahaha! I saw a Yellow Jacket the other day too, but he was only interrested in the brew, and seemed pretty humble around the butterflies, so I left him alone.
Hmmm...is there good ones as far as cats and eggs?
I have lost many, many monarch cats to what is likely red wasps. We had a huge migration through here in early April and I went to buy more milkweed just to keep up with them. The cats I see now are probably the babies of the early migrants. I don't want to kill beneficial wasps, but a butterfly net for wasps is a great idea. I need to get a pic of red wasp to make sure I'm going after the right ones.
When you get a picture, post it, will you? I am never sure when I hear about somehting in Texas if it applies to Indiana or not...our climates are soooo different!
What about the regular black ones with the dangly legs? I am seeing a lot of those. And a little later I'll see yellow jackets...are those wasps?
Suzy
Okay .... to determine what wasps you want to rid your yard of ..... watch what they do when you spot one. If it is landing on leaves and searching above and underneath the leaves..... then it is looking for cats & other insects to capture and take back to the wasp nest to eat. That is what the wasps in my yard do. I have the yellow jackets from time to time, but they seem to spend more time looking for nectar than small insects.
Here's a link with photo of the kind of wasps I am talking about snatching a Monarch caterpillar:
http://greensmiths.com/hungry.htm
Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr............................................!!!!!
Oh, thanks Becky. I've never seen those ugly things here. Florida is a scary place! LOL!
I think our bad ones have stripes and look like skinny bees. Not sure about the black ones we have that are more shaped like your red ones....maybe somebody will read this and have the answer.
Suzy
oooohhhh creepy! Thanks for the pics. I'll go look at them more closely. I saw some flying around that had black back ends. Today more of the redish ones. I'll get out there and make sure of what I have. thanks for the pics Beckyg!
Yellowjackets are evil. Yes they are wasps. Quite a few years ago I was stung numerous times while pulling weeds growing up through a bush. Excruciating pain - I'll never forget! Stay clear of those guys, for sure.
Dear Bookworm,
Are yellow jackets the wasps that are brownish yellow color? If so, I have had many of this kind of wasp nesting on my eaves for almost twenty years and no one has been stung yet. My daughter (when she was visiting) said that the wasps scare the bees off. I don't think this is quite accurate. I have worked in the garden on many occasions with wasps flying around me and I haven't been stung.
Please advise...
Thanks,
Chuck
They are kind of yellow/brown striped - not a large wasp. They don't bother people unless they are disturbed - I happened to reach into the bush where the nest was located. I truly disturbed them and they let me have it! Other than that - wasps have never bothered me. Thank goodness!!
Mine like to be in the ground or near the ground, so when I weed in late July, August, and into Sept., I almost always put my hand into somwhere they don't want it and they swarm after me. Once I had an entire hive FOLLOW me running at top speed to the safety of my house. I was flinging off my clothes as I was running because they were getting trapped between my clothes and skin, in my hair and even insode my bra. Oh, yes, it wasn't a pretty sight!
I had to call the poison control center because I had been stung over 200 times. I counted the stings, but lost track at 200. The poison control people advised oral Benadry. They kept calling me back every 15 miniutes, and then every hour, and then a couple times 6 hours apart.
These were low and probably at ground level. Actually, I'm not sure, I was just in a weeding funk and wasn't paying attention. They were striped like a bee, but narrowed and not as "hairy". They definitely swarm in a pack. AND they can sting multiple times, but most of the venom is in the first three stings.
Suzy
Lots of folks get yellow jackets mixed up with paper wasps. The yellow jacket has a more portly appearance straight sides without the thin line connecting the rear end like the paper wasp. Also the paper wasp nest is usually built from 4-5ft to up in eaves and rafters. I have found nests in Moonvine too. The nest looks like it's made of thin whitish paper in a comb built one chamber at a time for pupas. As pictured they will eat caterpillars eggs if they can find them anc could possible avoid certain species. They are becoming leary of the BST cats, and I'm not sure if they would be effected by a cat that's poisonous, such as Pipevine ST. From what I can see so far the paper wasp hasn't eaten any cats. If they are going to, it is usually when they are less than 1/2 in.
I wonder if that wasp on the page Becky showed got sick from eating the monarch.. or if they are ammune or use their poisons.
I saw one last year swoop down and deliver a paralyzing sting to an eclosing GFrit... It was so sad!! It didn't have a chance! grrr
'
Hate to kill anything, but worst case senerio I might try a trap to put a dent in their numbers. Something a butterfly wouldn't go or fit into.
http://www.doityourself.com/invt/6700215
No need to be over-runned by them, especially of ya have kids or guests that could get stung.
There is another kind of wasp that is a major threat to cats, moths and bflies, and that's the Braconidae. It is a parasitic wasp. their eggs feed on a living cat, cocoon or chrysalis, it's a slow death. the larvae look like small rice crispies on the victim/host. I found a Sphinx cocoon covered with them. It bugs me bad to find such a thing! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Braconidae
Thus far the one Yellow Jacket I have seen was too wrapped up in the brew to attack anything. He doesn't bother the bflies at all. If he steps out of line he might get it!
So I'd say the worse in my area of TX, are Paper and Braconidae Wasps.
Gee Suzy - I only got stung by 5-7 of them -can't remember now exactly how many. I DO remember the pain, though. I can't imagine how much pain you were in. I think these were close to the ground as well and inside the bush.
Debnes - very interesting about that parasitic wasp. I'm going out tomorrow armed with more ID'ng knowedge. Don't know exactly what I'll do about them since any chemical will harm the cats as well. It does explain why I can see so many cats and so few chrysalis and new b-flies. I'm moving my newly sprouting milkweed all over the back yard so maybe there will be so many locations the wasps will miss them if they aren't so concentrated in one area - thus easy pickings. Hope that helps their survival rate.
Bookworm, The thing about b. wasp is they won't dissappear, they get these rice things on them that suck the life out. It's too late when you find them like that, tho. No scraping and saving their life by that point. :-. Anything else will wither gobble it up or haul it away to a nest. We are constantly checking on them watching.
I can't find any info on the type of wasps that I have. They build their nests under the eaves of the house (about twenty feet up), they are yellow brown, they are large for wasps, and they are pollinators. Basically they are peaceful. In the seventeen years that we have had them, they have never stung anyone although visitors have been intimidated.
Can anyone tell me what kind of wasp this is?
BTW, California has re-introduced more bumble bees to replace the missing bees. Now I see two or three bumble bees a day. HOORAY!!
Thanks,
Chuck
What does the nest look like Chuck?
It is round and there are cells on the bottom side. It looks like it is made of soaked paper. One or two of the cells will be filled all year around. It is attached to the underside of the eaves.
Thanks,
Chuck
Chuck, are you talking about the Mud Daubers?
http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.torreypine.org/animals/Insects/MudDauber.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.torreypine.org/animals/Insects/Hymenoptera.html&h=269&w=393&sz=16&hl=en&start=7&tbnid=9_VsAGGdN7bO3M:&tbnh=85&tbnw=124&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dmud%2Bdauber%2Bnests%26gbv%3D2%26svnum%3D10%26hl%3Den%26rls%3DDNUS,DNUS:2006-36,DNUS:en
No that doesn't look familiar. For one thing the nests are about five to six inches wide. Also, these insects are right out there with the bees and the flowers. I have never seen them eat spiders which leads me to believe that they don't. (which is terrific because spider webs are what hummers use to make their nests).
Thanks,
Chuck
Very close except they are yellow-brown and there are not so many of them around all at once.
Thanks,
Chuck
Do a search on 'paper wasps' and 'California' and see what you come up with. Things west of the Rockies are so different than what we have east of the Mississippi, even if they are in the same family.
Suzy
debnes - so when you spot them, what do you do? Sometimes I stand out there with a shovel and swat at them - but I can't be out there doing that very often. Other garden tasks! I did transplant a lot of milkweed seedlings all over the back yard tonight. Maybe it will "dilute" the wasp population.
bookworm - I usually try to find the nest and destroy it. Just be careful, because they are fierce at protecting it. That is the only time I use pesticides in my yard. (I try to spray away from my garden beds.) I find my nests on the underside of garden furniture. So I just carefully carry the furniture to another part of my yard and give it a quick spray and then run ... FAST!!!! LOL! :-D
Well I do have a butterfly net... not for butterflies, but for catching anything that goes after eggs or cats on my plants. My SIL was over last week and pokes one good with a small piece of bark he picked up in the back yard... Ya have to have a steady hand and a good aim to do that though, LOL.
I am pretty sure what Chuck has is Paper Wasp too.
You guys have some great ideas. I had already forgotten the earlier part of the thread with the b/fly net debnes. (end of the school year and too much going on! can't wait for summer!)