Wasps

Paper wasps and yellow jackets are the most common types of wasps you’ll see.

Most wasps have a narrow or pinched waist and are black or have various markings of white, orange, or yellow. Yellow jackets, living up to their name, usually have yellow and black markings. Unlike bees, they don’t really have hair.

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Wasps also tend to range in size from a half inch to an inch long, although yellow jackets are shorter than paper wasps.

Wasps build their nests in spots like eaves, gutters, voids, bushes, branches, and fences. Paper wasp nests look like upside down umbrellas, while yellow jackets generally make their nests in the ground.

 

Wasps are predators, searching for meat. Yellow jackets will forage on meats that are lying around, like those hamburgers and hot dogs at your neighbourhood BBQ. They also will find crumbs, spilled drinks, and they will be around plants and flowers as well.

 

People can be stung because yellow jackets are right around their food when they’re eating outside, or when they either get too close to a nest or just happen to stumble into a wasp.. Unlike bees, wasps don’t lose their stinger when they attack, so they usually have no problem stinging more than once. When threatened, paper wasps will very prone to stinking, and can sting you multiple times.

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If a wasp is near or on you, and you panic and try to swat it away, it’s going to interpret that as an aggressive act. However, if you gently brush a wasp away from you and walk away, it should leave you alone. Like bees, if you’re allergic to wasp venom, getting stung by a wasp can trigger a serious allergic reaction.