PAPER WASP

Adult paper Wasp are ¾ to one inch long.   These wasp will gather fibers from dead wood and plant stems, which they mix with their saliva, and use to construct water-resistant nests made of gray or brown papery material.  That is why you will typically see them walking around fences and on the facia boards.  They are sometimes called “umbrella wasps” because of the way they make their nests.  These wasps are very common under eaves and around playgrounds.  They actively forage during the day and all colony members rest on the nest at night.  Paper wasps have a smooth stinger which allows them to sting multiple times when they feel threatened.

MUD DAUBERS

Mud daubers are a type of wasp, but they are not aggressive and rarely sting.  The adults are ¾ to 1 inch long.  The mud daubers are easily identified by their tiny tubular waist.  They come in a variety of colors including black and yellow to a metallic blue.  The mud dauber makes it’s nest out of mud.  During early spring usually around April you can see these wasps in large numbers flying by your roof line and windows.  You will typically find their mud nests in your garage or by the air vents that lead into your attic.  These wasps will generally kill spiders and then bring them back to their nests where their young will feed on them.  They are known to use the same sites for their nests year after year.

YELLOW JACKETS

Yellow Jackets get their name from their yellow and black bodies and are also known by the name meat bees.  They measure 10mm to 16mm in length.  Many yellow jackets colonies can be found in the ground or in a hole of a tree.  A colony can contain 1,000 or more workers by fall.  Yellow Jackets can sting multiple times.  These types of wasps are attracted to meat, fish and sugary substances.  They can typically be seen around July annoying you when you are trying to have a BBQ with your family.

Most homeowners buy traps that can attract the wasps and then get caught.  These are not recommended because they only deter the wasps for awhile.  We have a treatment that you can purchase at an extra cost to hang up out of the reach of children and typically will have the yellow jackets gone in a few days completely.