Paper Wasps – Family Vespidae, Genus Polistes – These insects are VERY common in our area, building pancake-style paper nests that are primarily open (the individual chambers can be seen, sometimes filled with eggs or food stores). The nests are attached by a very small strand to whichever surface the wasps chose for their nesting location (commonly under railings, soffets, inside birdhouses, under chairs or benches, inside open clothesline poles, inside unused barbecue grills, on children’s play equipment, and many other harbored locations). These insects are very prolific breeders, and become more aggressive as the nests become larger. The adults feed on both nectar and the juices of crushed and rotting fruits, and they also hunt insects and spiders to chew and feed to the larvae. There are many different types of these wasps, the most common in our area being the Polistes dominulus, or European Paper Wasp. This highly aggressive variety is commonly mistaken for a yellowjacket, as they have both share black and yellow bands around their body. The yellowjacket has slightly different markings, however, and also builds a completely different style nest.
Yellowjackets – Family Vespidae, several genera – The several species of insects known commonly as yellowjackets are the smallest of the stinging insects, usually being 1/2 inch long. Their bodies are usually marked with black and yellow rings, and different varieties have different markings along these rings (sometimes only visible with a magnifying glass). The two most commonly found in our area are the Sandhills Hornet and the German Yellowjacket. The Sandhills can be found nesting in an enclosed, roughly football-shaped paper nest, attached to eves or in shrubbery or trees, and are usually a little larger than their cousin, the German Yellowjacket. These are found primarily in the ground near stumps or the base of plants, but are also found at ground level in enclosed nests, or sometimes in the ground simply in the middle of a field. The ground nests are nearly identical to the style they would build above ground, only missing the outer layer of paper. The insects excavate the hole, and continue to make the hole larger as needed as the nest grows. Both varieties are extremely aggressive, and are known to almost completely empty a nest of workers defending it. They can also be somewhat unpredictable, sometimes completely ignoring humans until the nest is actually disturbed, other times attacking someone simply walking nearby. These insects are commonly mistaken for their less dangerous cousin, the European Paper Wasp, which is somewhat less aggressive, but does have similar markings. This family is the only one we have in the area that has a highly developed chewing mandible, which leads to another interesting problem. If they find a small entrance, and begin to nest inside a wall or roof void, or inside an attic area, the nest will continue to grow to fill this void. When there is no more room left, the insects begin to carve out the backing material of drywall, plaster, and the like, and can eventually come through the wall at this point. Until this happens, it can sometimes be seen as a water or grease spot on the wall, and if felt CAREFULLY, feels very soft. This is obviously due to the lack of material on the other side of the wall, and is an indication that the nest is becoming too large, and needs to be treated IMMEDIATELY before they come through the wall. Usually when the “water spot” is noticed, it is only between a matter of hours or a few days until the nest accidentally breaks through, allowing entrance into the home.
Honey Bees – Apis mellifera – These insects are commonly around 2/3 inch long, and are various shades of yellow, black, brown, or orange, with the head, antennae and legs being darker. The body is covered with light-colored hairs. Honey bee nests consist of many wax cells constructed by the workers. These cells are used both to house the eggs and larvae, and to store honey. The largest problem with these insects is when they establish in a nest in or around a structure. If a small opening is found, and they start a nest inside the wall or roof space, there is likely to be a large amount of wax and possibly honey in the nest. The workers inside the nest normally are continually fanning their wings, helping airflow, and keeping the temperature of the nest down below the melting point of the wax. If the area heats too much (due to insulation or household heating), the wax and honey mixture can become liquid, and cause permanent damage to plaster or drywall as it leaks away from the nest. This causes yet another problem, as the honey is a draw to many other foraging insects as a food source, and can draw in ants, wasps, other honey bees, flies, or many other insects. Something most people do not realize is that an individual honey bee nest commonly has between 20,000 and 50,000 insects. Honey bees also choose well-harbored nesting locations, so they do usually survive the winter, and in the spring do not have to start over new nests as some other species do (thereby having large nests already built and well-established in the spring).
Carpenter Bees – Xylocopa spp.– These large insects closely resemble bumble bees, but have very different nesting behavior. They bore long tunnels into wood, and divide these tunnels into cells where individual larvae will develop. This causes the wood they have burrowed into to become nearly hollow, and sometimes will cause such structural problems that the board they have infested can crack or split with a stiff wind, or a blow from something. These insects do prefer unpainted, untreated, or well-weathered wood, but can also be found in stained or painted wood quite commonly. The holes they bore are usually approximately 1/2 inch and continue into the wood for a very short distance, and then turn and follow the grain of the wood. Common sites are inside wood siding, eaves, doors, fence posts, soffets, telephone poles, and they have even been known to infest children’s play sets and wooden lawn furniture. A teletale sign of carpenter bees is the yellowish or brownish stains (made of a mixture of excrement and sawdust) that can be found on the wall near the entrance holes.
Bumble Bees – Genus Bombus – These large, black and yellow, fuzzy-looking insects are seen commonly collecting pollen and around gardens. Unlike their cousin, the Carpenter Bee, they do not burrow into wood, instead using locations like abandoned mouse burrows, under piles of grass or leaves, underneath logs, or other such locations. They have also been known to burrow directly into the ground, and have been found in abandoned buildings or cars, or underneath mobile homes and the like. Being fairly unaggressive, these insects pose the most problem if the nest is located too near areas humans frequent. The foraging workers rarely bother humans, but if the nest itself is threatened, they will defend it aggressively.
Mosquitoes – Order Diptera, Family Culicidae – The many species of mosquitoes have many different habits and life cycles, but do share some common elements. All mosquitoes require some form of water, be it fresh or stagnant water, and all females feed on blood from warm-blooded creatures in order to prepare themselves for the mating flight and laying of eggs. This causes problems in several ways – first, the bite itself can cause itching or burning for those who have an allergic reaction (as most of us do to some extent), second, these insects can be known as vectors of certain diseases (for example, malaria is quite common in tropical regions, and in our own area, the Encephalitis scares we have had (aka West Nile Virus)).
Fleas – Order Siphonaptera – The bodies of these tiny, wingless insects are shaped like a “V”. This allows them to more readily move through the hairs in an animal’s fur (or carpeting) and get into small crevices (baseboards, etc). The adults of this family have an elongated mouthparts that are used for piercing the skin and feeding on the blood of a live host. Their powerful hind legs are used for jumping, and they can even reach heights of 7 or 8 inches, and can leap forward 14 to 16. Fleas prefer to have certain conditions for breeding, and any area with 70 or 80 degrees and over 50% humidity has the perfect requirements to develop a substantial infestation. These insects are also important as they are carriers of certain parasitic or disease organisms (for example, the dog tapeworm, which is common in both cats and dogs).
Bedbugs – Order Hemiptera, Family Cimicidae – The adult bed bug is about 1/5 inch long and 1/8 inch wide. They are shades of reddish brown, and look flattened and oval-shaped. These parasitic insects only feed on the blood of warm-blooded animals (Humans being their preferred choice of host). Normally, these insects only feed at night, but will at other times in areas that are not used during night hours. During the day, they hide in cracks and crevices, hiding with ease due to the flat shape of their body. Typical hiding places are in the seams and folds of mattresses, coils of springs, cracks and hollow posts of headboards, and upholstery of chairs and sofas. One telltale sign of bedbugs is the spots of fecal matter that are commonly found. Occasionally, if an engorged adult is crushed, a small blood spot can also be found.
