Interesting facts about wasps nests, FYI, with pics

[thesamhill]

Nobody in my in-person life finds bugs as interesting as I do and this is the only internet place I visit so you guys have the great fortune of hearing all the interesting things I learn about bugs.

Here's the latest:

1. Mud dauber wasps CAN, in fact, increase the downtravel of your garage door and make it so it will not stay closed. See pic 1.

2. Mud dauber nests contain three things: mud, baby wasps, and spiders. See pic 2.

That is all. Carry on.

 

[rz350]

I brought a truckload of equipment up here from Florida, nearly every machine had a mud dauber nest somewhere in it, I spent days taking things apart to clean that stuff out.

I made the mistake of starting a belt sander before looking it over, the belt instantly exploded and flew across the room as the rollers with the nests on them started to rotate...

 

[HaWE]

I wanted to make a ride on my motorbike so I pushed it out of the garage and saw that within a day there was a nest full of little spiders all over the front wheel.

 

[Killing Floor]

I hate wasps. Their only ecological function is to sting people and they are not part of any ecosystem or food chain. Hate.

 

[dented]

I dislike wasps also. I have "minted" the perimeter of the house and sprayed all the eaves several times this spring. No bees or wasps at the house but they are all over the yard. I hate that wasps look right at you and then actually attack. Little bastids.

 

[uriah1]

Yellow jackets are nasty just to be nasty

 

[memorex]

I've got a wasp or hornets nest under the eave of my roof, but it's too high to get to it. I don't see anything coming in or out, so it's probaby dead, but you never know. I don't really need a roof rake but I'll buy one this fall, and knock it down next winter.

 

[THX1123]

 

[peteycaster]

Yellow jackets are nasty just to be nasty

Bet you wouldn't say that to Robben Ford.

 

[39martind18]

Encountered one of these in my garage a couple of days ago, about 1.5 inches long, and not happy about

being cooped up in the garage overnight.

 

[985plowboy]

Dirt daubers don’t bother me much.
I have heard that wasps kill and eat the type worms that get on the tomato plants so unless they are nesting in an area where myself or someone else will wind up stung, I leave them alone.

I kill them with a homemade solution of water, bleach and dawn dish soap.
Mix it up in a spray bottle or if you need distance, a one gallon pump sprayer.

 

[Tarkus60]

I am allergic to bee and wasp stings. Hate them all except honey bee's we need them.

 

[ale.istotle]

Encountered one of these in my garage a couple of days ago, about 1.5 inches long, and not happy about View attachment 1001266 being cooped up in the garage overnight.

That cicada doesn‘t look happy either.

 

[thesamhill]

The mud daubers aren't really a big problem aggression wise, but they do tend to nest in inconvenient places and create problems. I didn't realize how focused on spiders they are but that was not a big nest and there were a LOT of spiders in there.

Those gigantic cicada killers can cause puckerage when they start eyeing you up but they are generally pretty relaxed... unless you trap them in your garage overnight, yikes!

Yellow jackets... good grief they seem to need to meet some sort of yearly sting quota. And they really like nesting right around the house. I have mint around too but apparently not enough. Every early fall when they start getting cranky I have to suit up after dark and go after them with the shovel and puffer or I get zapped a bunch of times doing end-of-season yard stuff. Grrr

 

[TeleTex82]

Our house is made of rough limestone bricks, mud daubers and cicadas love them because the rough surface gives them a lot of extra purchase for nesting/molting, respectively. I take out at least a dozen dauber nests a week.

The other big wasp nuisance around here are the big red ones. I like to sit in the pool with a wiffle ball bat and use them for batting practice as they make their water runs.

 

[Dave Hicks]

X-ray photo of a wasp nest.

 

[telleutelleme]

Texas mud daubers carry knives and guns and ride sparrows. They rent out their nests to wasp biker gangs too.

 

[39martind18]

That cicada doesn‘t look happy either.

Yup. It's going into a hole excavated by the wasp, after being paralyzed by its sting, to serve as a live smorgasbord for the wasp's young. I once witnessed one of the wasps actually catch a cicada in flight. The wasp caught the cicada and stung it. The cicada responded with its cicada sound for about 6-8 ft, went silent, and arced to the ground, where the wasp started dragging it off to the hole. It was quite a sight!

 

[4pickupguy]

Hate them and kill them indiscriminately with extreme prejudice. The last two years they have been booming!! There was a nest up high in the eaves of my garage. Took a garden sprayer drilled the nozzle out with a number 80 drill. It now has an effective 40’ range. Fill it with Dawn and water. Kills them instantly! . I have a 14’ awning around two sides of my house. Its a season long battle. I’ve gotten good enough to pick them out of the air too. Its very fun downing those evil little bastards. Just in case they get all kamikaze and sh!7, I have a badminton racket in my other hand. I also often run away screaming like a hysterical little girl… thats pretty effective too.

 

[Stubee]

Nobody in my in-person life finds bugs as interesting as I do and this is the only internet place I visit so you guys have the great fortune of hearing all the interesting things I learn about bugs.

Here's the latest:

1. Mud dauber wasps CAN, in fact, increase the downtravel of your garage door and make it so it will not stay closed. See pic 1.

2. Mud dauber nests contain three things: mud, baby wasps, and spiders. See pic 2.

That is all. Carry on.

For sure. I broke up a dauber nest under the bow of my boat and thought those things were dauber larvae. Nope, Mr. Daddy Longlegs!

I don’t mind ‘em until they stop something up like the cooling water jets on my outboard. GRRR…