Late Summer Wasps

A common sight at this time of year is people in pub gardens suddenly screaming and flailing around as if a ferret has been dropped down their trousers/dress. The reason for this demented behaviour is of course late summer wasps, most likely the common wasp (Vespula vulgaris). We all have some very irrational prejudices regarding certain sections of the natural world: rats are vermin, rabbits are cuddly; spiders are the very epitome of evil, whereas crabs are ok and people actively fish for them as a family outing. Believe me a nip from an irate crab is hell of a lot more painful than anything a UK spider can inflict. The list can be extended: butterflies good, moths bad; frogs delightful, toads ughh; bees quite wonderful, wasps….well they would be at the top of most peoples list of most hated insects, but there is more to the story of summer madness than meets the eye.

To understand why social wasps suddenly swarm around our picnics and fizzy drinks during high summer, we have to appreciate their whole lifecycle. Let’s begin with the fundamental notion that wasps are actually good. For most of the spring and summer they go about their business oblivious and uncaring about us or our sweet treats. They are not interested in raiding our jam jars, they are simply in search of protein. Their lifecycle commences in early spring, when overwintering and already fertilised queens emerge from their hiding places in various nooks and crannies. Quite often this will be somewhere cool and dark around our homes. They become active when spring sunshine beckons them to commence the task of propagating a new generation of striped vespids, and will make their way to a suitable nest site to start that process. At that time of year, the only available food source is nectar from plants, meaning at the outset wasps are pollinators, just like bees and other insects. One mark for the wasp.

The initial nest, which the queen makes from chewed wood and saliva, is quite small, suspended by a stalk, and contains cells within which she lays an egg. When the eggs hatch into tiny larva, she feeds them on chewed up caterpillars and other insects that she catches. Effectively she is ridding your garden of unwanted ‘pests’. Score 2 for the wasp.

When the first batch of larva are ready to pupate, they seal their chambers and after metamorphosis emerge as sterile female workers. This process continues, with the nest getting larger and larger until it reaches a point in summer where the workers take over the day to day building and feeding jobs, leaving the queen to concentrate solely on egg production. Critically, the workers, in return for feeding the larva at one end, are rewarded with a feed of a sweet liquid secreted from the other to keep them fed and happy. When the nest reaches its maximum size and capacity, the queen lays eggs that will now hatch into virgin queens and male drones. Her job is done. The new queens and drones disperse from the colony, mix with wasps from other nests, and go about the task of mating. Mated queens will eventually seek a spot to hibernate, ready to commence the cycle all over again. But what about all the workers and drones left behind? Exactly. They now have very little meaningful purpose, and no longer have the luxury of feeding on larval secretions. Its time to seek an alternative food supply or starve. At this time, they will continue to pollinate flowers, fruit and vegetables (3:0 to the wasps), but will also home in on any other source of sugar, which unfortunately includes our B-B-Qs and picnics, leading inevitably to the demented thrashings of pubgoers. This is definitely an own goal, but overall I think the score is about 3:1 in favour of the stripes, a situation we should all appreciate and be thankful for. Wasps are important insects and have a key role to play in keepering the countryside. They should be treasured and their late summer transgressions tolerated. In my experience they seldom sting. They will if provoked and handled, but generally they couldn’t care less about humans, being solely intent on obtaining a sugar fix. Please don’t kill wasps, it’s a senseless reaction and could make matters a lot worse, because an injured wasp will emit pheromones that alert other wasps to danger and this could trigger an aggressive response. As with so many of our interactions with nature, leave it alone and it will leave you in peace.

I’d be being disingenuous to pretend there’s an easy solution to this issue. However, if late summer wasps bother you, or become too much of an annoyance, try providing them with their very own snack bar. Place a suitably sweet treat well away from your gathering, or procure a tailor made, non lethal, trap. This strategy works well and allows all parties to indulge in their favorite meals without undue interference. It is also very important to cover up food, thereby removing the object of the wasps desire. There are also other, non lethal, remedies available such as placing look alike nests close by. You can make these out of a large brown paper bag which can be filled with newspaper and suspended nearby. The similarity to another nest should keep wasps away from the immediate area. I’ve no first hand experience with the latter method, but am assured it is effective. Perhaps you can let me have your own thoughts in the comments.

In conclusion, although late summer wasps can be annoying, in the context of their yearly cycle they do far more good than harm. The insects buzzing around our beer or coke are at the end stages of their lives and will soon die. Perhaps we shouldn’t begrudge them a sip of the last of the summer wine.

For further information about UK social wasps click here. For more wildlife articles click here.