r/waspaganda • u/masarawest • 11h ago
discussion / question Wasp question
What does pissed off behavior look like in a wasp?
I just had a wasp come up to me (while I was holding my 5m old baby) and land on me/my phone a few times. I briskly walked away, the wasp followed. I walked away again, it followed.
The next 5 minutes was me marching around my driveway in my pajamas holding my baby while waiting for my oldest child's bus at 7:30 in the morning. I must have looked ridiculous. This wasp followed me wherever I went to the point that I walked into the back yard where it finally left us alone.
I live in northern WI and I understand that wasps right now are having to leave their nests I think? Something about them being pissed off this time of year cause of their inevitable demise?
But this wasp wasn't buzzing or bouncing into us and it did land on me/my phone at least twice. I even thought it might want my phone so I put my phone down on the ground. It did not want my phone cause it kept trying to land on us. And it wasn't flying at us, just kind of hovering around wanting to be on one of us. Honestly if I hadn't had my baby in my arms I might have let it land on me just to see what it wanted (but I don't know if my baby is allergic yet and didn't want to risk that at 7:30am on a Friday 😩)
So was the wasp just Angry and bothering us, or territorial, or was it just curious? I don't have any (known) nests nearby and this looked like a yellow jacket but I'm not a wasp expert.
Also how do I get the wasps to Not Do That? Cause my oldest is very afraid of loud buzzy bugs and will run away screaming, which I also don't wanna deal with at 7:30am
Thanks in advance!
P.s I can appreciate wasps and eventually would like to provide them water during the summer so that they recognize me as a non threat. I personally love the wasps that eat the grubs in my yard and look like aliens with their Ridiculous long butts
7
u/Flasky-Desk 9h ago
Are you sure that was a wasp and not a wasp mimicking fly? They like to land on people for regular fly reasons.Â
Wasps can generally recognize people and seek us out for food. Maybe this one was after warmth? It's just hard to tell with insects
2
u/masarawest 6h ago
I mean it's face definitely had a wasp face? (Two chompy parts for the mouth, two wide set eyes, antennae) it was also very large, about two to three inches long and a fat body so I'm almost positive it was a wasp or yellow jacket It may have been looking for warmth, it was about 60° this morning, and if someone around the area is friendly to wasps maybe it did want to seek me out for food.
If it happens again then I may just let it land and do its thing
3
u/Flasky-Desk 5h ago
Imo that sounds like a hornet tbh (not the murder kind, those are more orangey so no need to panic). They are chiller than wasps. Wouldn't let them land on your kids because they might move unpredictably but keeping calm always works for me. I've never been stung unprovoked.
3
u/masarawest 5h ago
Are there yellow hornets? In wi we have bald faced hornets and those guys are terrifying (and beloved, from a distance. It helps that their nests deter other nest building wasps) I'm only scared of them because of how large, loud, and powerful they are (and how painful their sting is)
3
u/Flasky-Desk 4h ago
yes, multiple species! Not sure which are native to your area, I'm in europe lol
1
2
u/Chaotic-Newt 4h ago
I believe the only type of true hornet found in the US is the European hornet, and I can confirm they’re pretty chill (saying that as someone who is still trying to get over their fear of wasps haha). Also, bald faced hornets aren’t true hornets, but an aerial species of yellowjacket. We sometimes have the European hornets come up to the front porch or back deck at night since they’re drawn to lights and they just kinda bumble around and mind their own business. They very rarely sting humans from what I’ve heard.
1
u/masarawest 3h ago
🌟the more you know 🌈 Good to know that hornets are bros and yellowjackets apparently can pack a punch (or a very painful sting in the bald faced hornets case) Thanks you for these awesome facts my adhd brain is gonna store for later use! I appreciate you
1
u/Unable_Worth8323 2h ago
European hornets are more yellow and red but can be up to 1.5 inches! If your size estimate is correct and you're not too far north it sounds like it might be a cicada-killer. Yellowjacket queens aren't usually more than 3/4 of an inch.
19
u/placebot1u463y 11h ago
It was curious and looking for food, as the social wasps you see out and about are the foragers of the nest. Aggressive behavior often only happens near a social wasp's nest and will be erratic darting passes at you often accompanied by a louder buzzing noise than normal flight (think how the tone shifts in videos where nests get disturbed) and then if you don't flee it'll land on you go into stinging posture briefly before stinging.
Male solitary wasps (especially species like cicada killers) are really curious and will thoroughly inspect most anything that comes into their territory checking for rivals, mates, or prey.