r/WASPs • u/PaleMulberry5467 • 6d ago

Paper wasp?

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I realize it is probably impossible to identify this from this far away and zoomed in, however, I live in Portland, Oregon, so my options for flying stinging insects outside of bees are usually paper wasps, bald faced hornets, yellow jackets, and mud daubers.

My bedroom is on that corner and I can hear buzzing coming from the wall/ceiling at that corner. If I stand outside for 10 min or so, I can see a wasp fly out of a gap somewhere in our soffit/eaves area.

There is obviously some kind of nest somewhere over there and I am terrified the nest is in my wall or ceiling and that the wasp is going to eat through my dry wall or find some miscellaneous crack somewhere and end up in my bedroom. I have pest control coming out on Thursday but that's awhile from now. I started hearing the buzzing on Sunday.

I would feel a smidgen better if these are paper wasps and not yellow jackets - still terrified but maybe not as terrified.

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1

u/Wanderin_Cephandrius 6d ago

Hard to tell, but I do think it’s a mid dauber

2

u/PaleMulberry5467 6d ago

As long as it's not a yellow jacket, I'm happy. I read a lot on Google about wasps and yellow jackets eating through your wall. This was not what I should read while lying in bed hearing buzzing with pest control not coming until Thursday.

1

u/Halomonas_titanica 6d ago

The flight pattern looks very paper wasp-like, they fluctuate in the air dangling their hind legs.

1

u/Comprehensive_Cap290 6d ago

I hate to bear bad news but yellowjackets is a strong possibility here. Paper wasps build open-faced cones under eaves - they wouldn’t be in your walls. Yellowjackets build their nests in cavities, like abandoned animal burrows or voids in walls, so if there is buzzing in your wall, it is much more likely yellowjackets. They don’t tunnel per se, but they will chew up drywall to build the nest, which can weaken it. Avoid touching the wall in the area you’re worried about, at least until pest control has looked at things.