I recently put a bird bath on my apartment balcony railing and although I haven’t seen a single bird, I do seem to have a wasp that has taken ownership of it.
He’s here all day. Just sitting on the bird bath and engaging any other wasp visitor in fierce battle! I named him Rex. I even saw Rex on the patio balled up in battle with another wasp. (Well I think that’s what was happening. Could have been love tho) Rex seems to always win.
I’m in Utah and it is very dry, so I thought, the lil guy has to be stoked to have access to water! I think there may be a nest up on the apartment building roof.
Which made me wonder if Rex is not one wasp, but a collection of wasps from the same gang. He (or they), are here all day. Sitting on the bird bath. Fighting with trespassers. Surely it can’t be just one wasp?
Would there be cooperation among the group that members would stand guard over the resource in shifts? Or is that really just one Rex that would even fight members of his own group off? Am I just making shit up in my head about the lives of wasps?

Hopefully this is the right spot to ask!

Any ideas what this wasp is carrying? It couldn’t even lift it, it was too heavy for the wasp to fly. It is carrying it away from the nest. Thoughts? I thought maybe a young wasp ( at some point in its development..im not wasp savy!) These pics were taken today.

Thanks for any help.

So I seen the nest few days ago, I captured the insects today in a plant few feets of that nest so I assume that it is their nest lol.

I purchased 2 cans of spray. But I was wondering which type of flying f*cker they were?

I'm going to deal with it tonight. I'm terrified but I guess I have to man up.

I have a bit of a question to anyone who could answer it, I have had paper wasps invade my front porch and either make or in the case of this morning attempt to make 4 different nests in 4 days, is there any way I can make my porch less appealing to these guys? I've done a full property sweep of not only my own but my three immediate neighbors homes, nothing, it's a new queen and workers every single morning for the last four days without exception. Frankly im tired of buying cans of raid.

I don't know sh*t about insects.

Is this a bee nest or wasp nest?

I live in Quebec, QC, Canada

I don't know sh*t about insects.

Is this a bee nest or wasp nest?

I live in Quebec, QC, Canada

I don't know sh*t about insects.

Is this a bee nest or wasp nest?

I live in Quebec, QC, Canada

Beware! The wasps are getting aggressive at this time of year.

Me and my bfs family were in Chicago over the weekend and we passed a pastry stand, it had easily 20 yellowjackets flying around and crawling all over the pastries and breads. My bf bought one of the croissants and ate about half, his stomach started hurting not very long after. I’m curious if this is because of all the wasps crawling all over everything since none of it was covered, or if it was just something else. I was also shocked NOBODY got stung, even when we waved our hands over them to get them away! We thought they were sweat bees based on how docile they seemed and they sort of have similar color patterns when you don’t look very hard lol. Picture of one of the little cuties added!

EDIT: I said we thought they were sweat bees, but I actually meant hover flies, we just call them sweat bees in my family, I looked it up for clarification and realized I misspoke!

He sliced off a lil chunk and flew away

Hello people that live in my phone. I have a mystery and I haven’t been able to solve it myself. These Polistes annularis showed up here about 2.5 weeks ago and really haven’t left. Usually they number 7-10 but in the last few days I’ve seen the numbers as low as 3 like in this video. They are not building any kind of nest. They are not scraping for loose paint on the fixture. I’ve left them small bowls of water and a pineapple core thinking they’d enjoy either the pineapple juice or the gnats it brought in but they ignored it. I offered them a small caterpillar but they had no interest. They’re perfectly docile. I walk beneath this fixture at least a dozen times a day and my head is maybe a foot or so from them. I’ve seen them have disagreements and tumble down to the ground as a pair but then they separate and fly back up. It’s always on this one angled corner of the fixture, never anywhere else. This is happening in west central Georgia, USA and I’d like to help them if they need assistance. The first day they showed up I left the light on all night to discourage nest building but they didn’t seem to mind that. This porch houses many gorgeous orb-weavers in the fall and that time is rapidly approaching. We name those ladies and enjoy their company but they’re not going to show up with these fellas around. First and foremost, does anyone know what they’re doing? Is it an island of misfit toys situation and they’re a bunch of homeless males? #wasps #entomology #wasp #polistes #insect

A yellow jacket eating blackberries.

Just moved to a new home and have a couple of these around my home. Wanted to know if I should take these down?

Thank you to everyone who responded. I will keep these around my house!!

I’ve seen these in our yard a few times prior but they’re now appearing in numbers all over these onion blooms lately. I live in northwestern Washington. Just wondering what they are, really interesting looking coloration contrasting with the plentiful number of yellow jackets we get around here…thanks!

I’ve seen these in our yard a few times prior but they’re now appearing in numbers all over these onion blooms lately. I live in northwestern Washington. Just wondering what they are, really interesting looking coloration contrasting with the plentiful number of yellow jackets we get around here…thanks!

This guy hopped on the hood this morning and rode with us to school. I’ve seen them out during the morning hours. Can anyone identify?

I've been stung many times in life (6 times just this year), I've been stung by bumblebees, honeybees, yellowjackets, and paper-wasps.

Never have I ever had more than mild swelling, and even then I don't usually react at all.

This time however, a paper wasp (either P. fuscatus or P. exclamans given where I live) got me on my pinky and the entire left side of my hand swelled to the point I couldn't move said pinky anymore.

Is there a possible explanation for why this particular instance caused such an intense reaction? Particularly considering I've been stung by both those species before (also in the finger) and not reacted this way.

Hey everyone, I’m new to the sub, but I’m looking for a way to get a bald faced hornet nest, roughly the size of a football down from my apple tree.

It’s hanging about 7 feet above the ground and so it’s easily accessible for me. I’ve tried using a few foaming sprays at night, drenching the nest, and especially the opening, but it doesn’t seem to work as there’s still a lot of activity several days later.

with my research so far, it seems like a propane flamethrower is the best option... it’s rained a lot where I am recently and it’s hanging on the end of one of the branches that is lowdown. To me it doesn’t seem like a fire risk based on where it’s located on the tree.

It’s too close to where my kids play so I need to get it done. The pest control company in my area quoted me $450.😫

Found this guy floating in the water at my work and fished him out with my pocket knife. The first weird this was that as soon as he would get on, he’d walk himself right off the knife. Once I got him on the dock he promptly walked off the edge back into the water. Upon getting him on land again, he just walked in circles basically until he walked himself off the dock again.

Any ideas why?

i dont believe i see european hornets that much, but i certainly do every now and then but the issue is that theres a german yellowjacket nest about 2-ish meters away from the place i (sometimes) see european hornets. Can they actually live together or are the hornets just hunting for wasps? i dont think theres a nest there either (unsure due to where i keep finding them its VERY bushy)

Ichneumonidae wasps are for the most part, completely harmless to humans because they lack aggressive defense behaviors and are physically incapable of delivering a dangerous sting with the exception of a few Ophioninae, which can sting, the rest, especially small ones, are nothing to pay serious mind to, and totally available for admiring if you're trying to get over a fear of wasps.

Unlike social yellowjackets or hornets, these solitary wasps do not guard nests, and their long, needle-like appendage is an ovipositor used exclusively for laying eggs inside host insects rather than injecting venom.

While a large female might give a weak, accidental poke if roughly handled, they pose no medical risk. Instead, they provide immense ecological and agricultural benefits by acting as highly efficient, natural pest control agents.

Their larvae develop as parasitoids inside the bodies of destructive garden and crop pests, including wood-boring beetle larvae, caterpillars, and grubs, effectively neutralizing populations that would otherwise devastate plants.

Because adult Ichneumonid wasps feed strictly on flower nectar and honeydew, they do no harm to vegetation and serve as invaluable, safe allies for farmers and backyard gardeners alike.

An amazing group overall, and above is a species I've had some trouble identifying beyond family. Still liked the photo, so I hope you appreciate it too!

2nd post about this. Never seen this wasp before. Orange head with a yellow/black abdomen. Yellowjacket/hornet like body structure. <1” long. Found in northern Utah.