If there is something that Florida has in record numbers (besides tourists during the winter), it is bugs! Of the many species that call this area home, stinging insects can be the most dreaded. At BeeMan Stan, we take the sting so you don’t have to, with wasp removal services for all types of wasps that can make your home and outdoor living spaces a battleground and put your family at risk. Here are some interesting facts about the cicada killer wasp and the paper wasp, the two most common wasp species in Florida that we often get called to help with.
Cicada Killer Wasps
- Not Dangerous to Humans- The cicada killer wasp gets its name because it is vicious, but as long as you aren’t a cicada, you are relatively safe unless you deliberately antagonize one and it feels a need to defend itself.
- Be Glad You’re Not a Cicada- It isn’t a pleasant death for the cicada. The wasp first paralyzes the cicada then takes it to her burrow where she’ll lay an egg under its second leg. When the egg hatches, the larvae devours the cicada alive.
- Males Have No Stinger- The males can be quite territorial and can seem somewhat aggressive, but have no fear– they are all bark and no bite without a stinger.
Paper Wasps
- Beneficial Aspects- Not that you’d want them around your home as their sting is far from pleasant, but paper wasps do help bees with transferring pollen. Furthermore, the young wasps eat a variety of plant pests that could be thwarting your vegetable growing efforts.
- Quick to Defend- A paper wasp nest houses roughly 30 adult wasps, and they will all join in the attack if their territory is being infringed upon. This means there is a high likelihood you will experience multiple stings if you disturb them.
- Why Called Paper Wasps? The name “paper wasp” was dubbed because of this wasp’s habit of building its nest out of paper that they make from chewing up fibrous plants and wood.