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Vespula germanica: The German or European Wasp, aka “Yellow Jackets”

Nov 25, 2011 16:58





Tidbinbilla Nature reserve*
Canberra, Australia Capital Territory, Australia *

German or European Wasps: The Yellowjacket

Taxonomy: Animalia: Arthropoda: Insecta: Hymenoptera: Apocrita: Vespidae: Vespula germanica

Common Names: German Wasp, European Wasp, Yellow Jackets, the fake paper wasp.

Localities: Northern hemisphere and native to Europe, northern Africa, and temperate Asia. Has been introduced into Australia, New Zealand, North America, and South America.

Description:

The German or European Wasp, is also known as the yellowjacket in North America. They are often mistaken for the paper wasp due to similar grey paper nests that they build as well. They are about a half a inch long with black and yellow striped coloring, and is mistaken for the common wasp (Vespula vulgaris) as well as the paper wasp. You can tell the difference from the three tiny black dots on its face, and black dots on the abdomen, whereas the common wasp has analogous markings fused with black rings above them forming a different pattern. In the Spring, a solitary European wasp queen begins the nest with a petiole attached to a substrate and a single open cell at the end of it. The nest is then created by her colony of German wasps that chew plant fibres with her, mixing it in with their saliva, and creating a paper nest, hexagonally shaped, beginning with six cells first, growing with more, that they usually place close to or within the ground. The queen creates approximately 20-30 open cells before she begins egg laying. The nest has open cells and a petiole that attaches the nest to a substrate. The wasps create a ant repelling chemical that is secreted around the petiole’s base to keep them from messing with their nest. Hornets, unlike wasps, place their nests high in tree tops or up on bushes. Once the larvae in the cells hatch, a worker colony is formed, taking care of the needs of foraging, brooding, and nest maintenance. Nests can grow as large as 30 cemeters wide with a population just over 3,000. A good number of the workers are sterile and the colony usually survives for only a year with the nest’s inhabitants all dying by winter and the queen lasting to restart the process the next spring. In warmer clients, is has been known for roughly 10% of the colony to survive the winter with new queens and drone males birthed by end of summer, mating, and the queens finding winter shelter in cracks of rocks or buildings to hibernate till spring. They look like bees and fly with their legs held up as well. Their antennae are entirely black.

Diet: Most wasps feed on caterpillars to their larvae, nectar or sweet fruit to the adults, as well as human food and waste, with a satiable appetite for soda pop and meat.

Predators & defense: The wasp is hunted by numerous animals outside of man. The most common is the Honey Buzzard, who seeks out their larvae. Hoverfly Volucella pellucens also use wasp nests to lay their eggs in with their larvae feeding on the wasp’s young. They are pretty violent creatures that will defend their nest in hordes which usually lead to the death or paralysis of the intruder. Wasps don’t insert in barbs like bees do when they sting, so they can sting over and over again. The wasp also releases a alarm pheromone that marks the animal that distubed the nest to attract other wasps to the sting site.

Cause and Concern: Wasps throughout the world are primarily seen as pests. They have human health, as well as agricultural and environmental impacts so need to be controlled. They cause serious issues with the apiculture industry as they attack bees, kill them, and rob their hives. They devastate fruit crops. They have even been known to strip flesh from cow’s teats. Many animals, including humans, are allergic to their stings causing upwards of death by allergy or massive attacks when their nests have been disturbed. They can sometimes be beneficial by use to remove garden pests such as caterpillars and garden grubs.

Treatment from stings: While extremely painful, the stings, especially numerous can provide fatality. For basic stings, an ice pack (ice mixed with water) will help reduce pain and swelling. The victims who have a hypersensitivity to wasp venom, should be treated immediately. This will display with an allergic reaction such as hives, puffiness of the skin, inflammation, difficulty breathing, or the heart stopping beats. The asthma inhaler known as ventolin is very helpful when any of this happens. Allergic victims stung on limbs should be treated with the pressure-immobilization technique where the limb is bandaged, kept still, and bandage wrapped a few times away from the heart side of the sting, then firmly wrapping as much of the limb up as possible bandaging upwards to the groin or shoulder. Pressure of the wrap should be firm but not constrictive. Do not use the tourniquet method.

Bibliography/Recommended Readings:



Amazon.com Widgets

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Current Mood:  nervous
Current Music: the whirring of wasps

Originally published at Naturally Science & Lore

ethnobotany, health and diet, botanical gardens, insects

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