Combating harmful wasps in crops, homes and workplaces
Wasps and everything related to these insect pests and how to combat them
Wasps are bee-like insects with the usual yellow and black shading that also look identical to bees.
It is really important to classify the correct species as this will help determine the appropriate treatment process and can easily be confused with and other species that sting like bees.
However there are about 30,000 species and many species are not yellow or black moreover most species use their arms instead of stinging individuals to capture prey.
Most of these insect pests are solitary and non-stinging, and they all do more good than harm.
What do wasps feed on?
The prey they kill is not eaten by the adults, but is fed to their young. The insects are caught by social species, cut into pieces and returned to the nest.
Many spider wasps for example paralyze spider prey using a venomous sting. They then eat their surviving larvae alive afterwards.
Adults feed on sugars from the nectar, aphids, or sugar liquid made by their larvae.
In fact most of the species are parasitic insects that lay their eggs inside other insects and they rarely bother us but the ones we come across often are the social ones.
These insect pests are beneficial to ecosystems as they control many types of insects but due to their strong bite they are loathed by humans.
What are the types of these insect pests?
Social and solitary are two major subgroups in which how you reproduce is determined by the society in which you live.
In large colonies social species live and are led by a queen and in holes or above ground make their nests.
Solitary wasps do not establish colonies and live alone and their size is much larger than social and they include digger wasps, sand wasps and construction wasps.
How do these insects reproduce?
Social wasps multiply
Once a year most females and males of the social species mate.
Females hibernate in the soil or in a closed area after mating until the winter passes and the males die.
A fertilized female wasp starts her colony in the spring by laying eggs in cell-like antlers.
The larvae emerge from the eggs and are fed by the female, and after 10 days adult workers come out to take care of the extra eggs.
Some working species are sterile and their main purpose is to feed the young species and help the queen.
Solitary wasps multiply
Females are usually able to reproduce and lay their eggs near a spider or other insect paralyzed by its venom.
Mother wasps do this so that they can use the insect as food while the larva is growing.
Several single females guard their nest while others leave it and in the spring these single species of males and females reproduce.
Soon after mating, some male specimens die while others survive the season.
The majority of solitary species, males and females, live as cocoons during the winter, unlike social species.
What are its benefits?
• There are species that have many services to offer, such as paper wasps, hornets and yellow jackets, which help in pollination, predation and parasitism.
• These insect pests exploit other species and are therefore beneficial to ecosystems.
• To feed their growing young, paper wasps take caterpillars and leaf beetle larvae to their nests.
• Provide their nests with all kinds of live insects to satisfy the appetite of their larvae that are formed.
• While Yellowjackets search for dead insects to feed their young, this indicates that they are able to clean.
• It also saves corpses from accumulating.
Is there any harm to these insects?
Yes, of course, there are that will cause severe damage to your home, and these damages are as follows:
Wood wasps and wasps are the two species that can cause the most damage to your home, as follows:
For a hornet's nest, if it gets too big and gets wet, it can become a big problem because if it gets wet it can degrade the materials in your ceiling and over time with a large hole your ceiling will eventually destroy.
They also have the ability to chew on multiple surfaces as they can do this to lay eggs or to improve the foundation of the nest.
When you start chewing on wood, the foundation of the ceiling and walls will collapse very quickly and they will be sure to use it to penetrate your home if it makes any holes and gaps.
If you manage to slip into your home's entry points, many other pests can also get in.
Now how is it combated?
• Keep food sources away from your balcony as this includes picking fruit from your ripe or rotting land.
• Turn hummingbird feeders into trees in your garden and away from your home, too.
• Make sure no pet food is left outside.
• Around your home and balcony, place plants that ward off these insect pests.
• Look for nests before they develop into larger ones so that when they are small they can be easily handled.
• Keep windows and doors closed.
• Close litter boxes and make sure you don't leave leftovers of food or alcohol around your home.
• To prevent it from invading your home, use caulk to cover any cracks in your porch or around the house.
What are the companies responsible for controlling such insect pests in Kuwait?
Here are the best and most famous companies that eliminate these insects:
• The Wasps Control Company, Hawally.
• The Ahmadi Wasp Control Company.
• Abdullah Al-Mubarak Wasp Control Company.
• Wasps Control Company, Salmiya.
• The Jahra Wasp Control Company.
• Also, Mubarak Al-Kabeer Wasp Control Company.
Keyword wasps
Description Wasps are insects that have benefits and also harms, so you should be fully aware of the ways to combat them as you will know through this article.
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