Are wasps dangerous? What do they eat? Where do they live? If you have several questions about wasps, this article is the perfect place to start.
When someone mentions the word wasp, most people start thinking about an intimidating insect with a fearsome ability to deliver painful stings.
However, there is much more to these insects than painful stings.
In fact, many wasp species are considered beneficial by people. In some cases, these wasps are the best natural tool to deal with pests like spiders, beetles, and aphids.
Also, not all wasps are dangerous and aggressive toward humans.
Let us take a closer look at wasps in this article.
What Are Wasps?
Wasps are a big family of insects with over 30,000 identified species worldwide.
As wasps, we are most familiar with the stinging and buzzing types, like yellow jackets.
These wasps are highly dangerous and can deliver painful stings. However, not all wasps are aggressive and pose a threat to humans.
Many species of wasps are beneficial insects, as they help to eliminate pests like aphids, spiders, and more. These insects are also decent pollinators.
Let us take a look at the different types of wasps in the next section.
Wasp Types
Various wasp species are categorized according to different habits. The nesting habit is significant and helps to classify various wasps.
The ones living in large colonies are called social wasps, and the ones living and building nests individually are called solitary wasps.
Let us understand some key differences between the two.
Social vs Solitary
Solitary wasps have individual nests; They do not aggressively defend the nest nor do they attack humans often.
However, social wasps live in huge colonies. Hence, they are very protective of the nest and its members.
Also, a social wasp colony has specific roles for everyone. There is the queen, who lays eggs and releases pheromones to keep the nest united.
Some workers expand the nest and collect food. There are drones and many others.
Groupings
Stephanoidea
Stephanoidea is a huge family of parasitic wasps.
This family contains only a single living sub-family, called the Stephanidae. It has around 350 living species.
Stephanoidea also has extinct wasp subfamilies like the Ephialtitidae, which had around 89 species.
Ceraphronoidea
This superfamily of wasps contains only two subfamilies of wasps.
There are a total of around 800 known species. Most of these insects in the superfamily are parasitoids or hyperparasitoids.
The wasps in the two subfamilies can be identified through the unique way in which their wing venation is reduced.
Evanioidea
Evanioidea contains three families. The Evaniidae family is quite different from the other families in this superfamily of wasps.
These insects have the metasoma attached significantly above the hind coxae.
There are around 1100 known species in the Evanioidea superfamily.
Ichneumonoidea
The superfamily comprises three extant and one extinct family. Around 100,000 species can be a part of this superfamily.
Many wasp species of this superfamily are also parasitoids. These insects are mostly solitary, and the larva feeds on other insects to grow.
Trigonalidea
The wasp species belonging to Trigonalidea lay thousands of tiny eggs on leaves. These eggs are then consumed by caterpillars.
Once the eggs are inside the caterpillar’s body, the wasp larva hatches and attacks the host.
Megalyroidea
Megalyroidea only has one family, the Megalyridae.
This family has around 49 described species of wasps.
In modern times, these wasps are mostly seen in the southern hemisphere. However, some of the fossils were only from the northern hemisphere.
You can find rich populations of wasps in Australia and Madagascar.
Proctotrupomorpha
Proctotrupomorpha is a significant subgroup of the Apocrita within the Hymenoptera.
The family usually contains parasitic wasps from groupings of Chalcidoidea, Diaprioidea, Proctotrupoidea, Cynipoidea, and Platygastroidea.
Chalcidoidea
The superfamily Chalcidoidea is a part of the order Hymenoptera. This superfamily of wasps has around 22,500 known species.
Fascinatingly, there are more than 500,000 estimated species in the superfamily. This means a significant fraction of these insects is yet to be discovered.
Diaprioidea
This small superfamily of wasps contains five extant families. Interestingly, all 5 families were earlier a part of the Proctotrupoidea family.
Proctotrupoidea
The superfamily Proctotrupoidea comprises seven extant families. As mentioned above, five extant families in Diaprioidea were earlier members of this superfamily.
Currently, there are 400 known species in Proctotrupoidea.
Cynipoidea
Cynipoidea has three extinct families and five modern families. The wasp species here are mostly parasitoids.
You can identify them by their glossy, dark bodies that look somewhat compressed. Also, the wing venation is a little reduced in these wasps.
Mymarommatoidea
The Mymarommatoidea are a superfamily of fascinating wasps that look like tiny fairies. There are a total of four families in Mymarommatoidea out of which three are extinct.
These species are microscopic and parasitic in nature.
It is quite challenging to discover these species as they are microscopic.
Platygastroidea
The wasps in the platygastroidea family are exclusively parasitic.
This superfamily of wasps is closely linked to the Proctotrupoidea superfamily.
Currently, there are around 4000 known species in this family. There could be more in the near future.
Aculeata (in part)
Aculeate contains wasps with ovipositors that are modified into stingers. Many members cannot sting through that ovipositor.
They use it to lay eggs in a host body or nest.
These wasps are mostly parasitic.
What Do Wasps Eat?
Different species of wasps can eat different things. Some enjoy hunting and feeding aphids to the larva, while others prey on spiders.
Usually, the wasp larvae have a carnivorous diet and rely on the insects and food hunted by the female wasps to fulfill their diets.
Adult wasps rely on nectar, honey from aphids, and fruit juices to obtain the energy required to function.
Many thread-waisted wasps are experts in hunting insects like cicadas, cockroaches, beetles, flies, and other pets.
They do so by injecting powerful neurotoxins to paralyze their prey. Later, they carry the paralyzed insect to the nest to feed the larvae.
These wasps often hunt venomous spiders like tarantulas and black widows.
What Eats Wasps?
Wasps are hunted down by several potential predators, like lizards, birds, and mammals.
Various species of wasps have brightly colored bodies to ward off predators. However, despite being dangerous, various stinging wasps are hunted down by birds.
Species like the peach-colored Summer Tanager are excellent at hunting down these wasps; These birds grab the wasps in midair and slurp them up in one go.
Other giant wasps, like paper wasps, bald-faced hornets, and European hornets, consume smaller species of wasps.
Mammals like black bears, weasels, honey badgers, raccoons, and mice are consumers of wasp larvae.
Where Do Wasps Live?
As mentioned above, social wasps live in huge wasp colonies, and solitary wasps usually build individual nests.
Species like paper wasps use a mixture of wood pulp and saliva to create a paper-like material. This material is used to build small umbrella-shaped nests.
Mud daubers make mud chambers to lay eggs.
Some parasitic wasps do not build their own nests. These insects prefer to lay eggs in other insects’ nests or bodies.
Social wasps live in giant nests built by a community of wasps working for the queen.
Life Cycle of A Wasp
There are a few key differences between the life cycles of a social wasp and a solitary wasp.
After mating, female solitary wasps search for ideal places to build individual nests. They usually prefer to construct these nests around food sources.
For example, spider wasps prefer building a nest around areas with abundant spider populations.
Cicada killer wasps prefer to go to spots with rich cicada populations.
Some parasitic wasps, like the blue mud wasp, do not build their nest. These insects prefer to lay eggs in previously constructed mud dauber nests.
Once solitary wasps build the nest, they lay an egg in each chamber and fill them with paralyzed insects. When the larvae grow, they consume these insects to grow into adults.
The larvae overwinter as pupae and emerge in the spring as adults.
The social wasp life cycle starts with the queen emerging from hibernation in spring.
The social insect then searches for an ideal spot to build a nest and start a colony. The fertile queen builds a few cells from wood pulp and saliva to lay eggs.
The wasps emerging from these eggs are the first workers who take charge of expanding the nest and colony.
Once the nest starts expanding, the queen starts producing around 200-300 eggs per day.
Within a few weeks, the nest grows from the size of a tiny ball to a giant football.
By late summer, the queen starts producing eggs that hatch into fertile males and new queens.
As winter approaches, the existing queen dies, and the worker leaves the nest.
The new queen mates with the fertile male and starts hibernating throughout the winter. They emerge in spring, and the cycle continues.
How Long Do Wasps Live?
Adult wasps do not live for long. Wasps lifespans differ from species to species.
Social wasp workers live for a few weeks. However, the queen can survive longer. Adult solitary wasps usually cannot survive the winters.
These insects live for only a season.
Usually, these wasps survive longer as larvae and pupae, as most wasp species overwinter as pupae before emerging in the spring.
Do They Bite?
Wasps have a stinger and are capable of delivering painful stings. These stings can be highly painful.
Yellow wasp stings can cause problems like severe inflammation, swelling, allergies, and more.
These wasp stings are so painful that many people end up being spheksophobic (having a phobia of wasps).
However, not all species are aggressive toward humans. Most wasp species only sting if they feel highly threatened by you.
They use the stingers to mostly hunt insects to feed the larva. At times, the stinger is also used as a tool for self-defense.
Are They Poisonous/Venomous?
Most wasp species have stingers that can paralyze large prey like spiders and beetles. However, these stings are usually poisonous to humans.
If you are allergic to wasp stings, you must stay far away from these insects. Also, some wasps, like the yellow jacket, can cause lethal injuries through their stings.
Are They Harmful or Beneficial to Humans?
As discussed above, not all wasp species are harmful to humans. These insects will not attack or sting unless threatened by your presence.
Various wasp species can be counted in the category of beneficial insects.
Solitary wasps like cicada killers and spider wasps are excellent for getting rid of pests naturally.
Also, since adult wasps mostly rely on nectar to fulfill their diets, they fly from flower to flower. By doing so, they promote cross-pollination.
Thus, they can be considered decent pollinators.
However, if you are allergic to wasp stings, you must drive them off.
We will discuss a few methods to help you eliminate stinging wasps from your home and garden in the upcoming sections.
What Are Wasps Attracted To?
Wasps are usually attracted to spots with abundant prey and food sources.
Food availability is a significant factor in deciding the location of the nest. For example, spider wasps prefer to build a nest around areas with a good spider population.
Adult wasps are also attracted to nectar, sweet fruits, ad honeydew left by aphids.
How Do I Get Rid of Wasps?
Wasps can be beneficial insects, but the danger of getting stung by these insects always looms large. Here are some top tips and tricks to get rid of wasps:
- Use wasp traps to kill these stinging insects. These traps contain a liquid that attracts the wasp. Once the wasp falls in, it gets trapped and drowns. Put the trap in areas where you notice regular wasp activity.
- Closely inspect the windows and door to search for tiny gaps and holes. These spots are ideal for the wasps to sneak inside your home. When you find these holes and gaps seal them immediately.
- Wasps will not nest around your house if there is a scarcity of pests to prey on. Keep the home and garden pest free to keep wasps at bay.
Some Interesting Types of Wasps
The huge family of wasps has many fascinating members with equally fascinating habits. In this section, we will describe a few interesting types of wasps.
Cuckoo Wasps
Cuckoo wasps are fascinating insects from the Chrysididae family. There are more than 300 different types of these species.
These insects are kleptoparasitic wasps, which means they hunt prey and also steal food from them.
You can identify the bug by its bright, metallic colors. They look similar to sweat bees.
Cuckoo wasp populations thrive around deserts as they get many opportunities to steal from the host insects.
To face the everyday dangers of stealing food from host insects, they have evolved a defense mechanism where they curl up in a ball and rely on the tough exoskeleton to stay safe.
The females have an ovipositor and will not sting humans.
Jewel Wasps
Jewel wasps are also known as chrysidid wasps. These wasps are common in tropical regions of South Asia, Africa, the Pacific Islands, and Southeast Asia.
They have shiny metallic bodies and often appear like misplaced jewels on a leaf due to their vividly colored bodies.
These wasps are most visible during the warmer months. Also, jewel wasps prefer to build nests around flowering gardens and undisturbed grass patches.
Fascinatingly, these insects are neither extremely advantageous nor harmful. However, they have stingers and are capable of delivering painful stings.
But thankfully, these wasps won’t attack unless they feel threatened.
Being a type of parasitoid wasp, they hunt cockroaches by stinging and paralyzing them. Hence, they can be beneficial to help you get rid of pests.
Potter Wasps
Potter wasps are insects with black bodies and yellow stripes on their abdomens. They usually grow up to around 3/8th to 3/4th inches.
Potter wasps are closely related to paper wasps, and you can find them across the various regions of the Southern and Northern Hemispheres.
These wasps get their names for their ability to build mud nests that look like pots.
Due to their appearance and habits, potter wasps are often confused with mason wasps.
You must know that potter wasps build their nests using a mixture of mud, twigs, and dried leaves. Mason wasps use plant resin for nest construction.
Female potter wasps have stingers and are capable of delivering painful stings.
However, they rarely sting humans and prefer to use the stings for hunting insects like beetles and caterpillars.
Spider Wasps
Spider wasps are notorious for their habit of laying eggs in spiders. These wasps use such pests as hosts and food for their larvae.
These wasps belong to the Pompilidae family and are also known as Pompilid wasps.
Spider wasps are solitary insects and do not aggressively defend their nest.
Yes, they have stingers, but they rarely attack humans.
However, spider wasp stings can be painful. However, if you are allergic to wasp stings, you should immediately get rid of spider wasps.
Wood Wasps
Wood wasps are some of the rare wasp species that eat wood. However, they do not use this wood to fulfill their diet; they use it to construct nests.
Species like potter wasps, mason wasps, red paper wasps, apache paper wasps, and more use scrap wood from your furniture to build nests.
They might have an intimidating appearance, but they cannot sting. However, these insects can cause significant damage to wooden furniture in your home.
Hence, you must eliminate them quickly.
Blue Mud Wasps
Blue mud wasps are known for their ability to hunt dangerous spiders like black widows. These insects are commonly known as “blue mud daubers.”
Blue mud wasps do not reside in colonies; they are solitary insects.
Blue mud wasps get their name from their blue and black bodies. These wasps usually grow 0.47- 0.7 inches in length.
If you look closely, you will see the blueish wings in the back.
Adult blue mud wasps have stingers that they use to hunt spiders.
Stingers are rarely used to attack humans. However, you must be careful around them, as the stings can be painful.
Adult wasps can fly and have blueish wings. The larvae are legless with creamy white bodies and are mostly around an inch long.
If you look closely, you will notice a stinger that the adults use to paralyze and hunt down spiders.
Mammoth Wasps
Mammoth wasps are one of the largest species of wasps in the world. These wasps can be as big as your hand. Yes, you read it right!
These fascinating creatures can grow up to almost two inches long.
Mammoth wasps can be spotted during the warmer summer months; May to August is the ideal time to spot these giants flying near flowers, searching for nectar.
North and South America, Asia, and Africa are a few regions where these insects are abundantly found.
Apart from their huge size, you can identify them by their bright yellow or orange-red heads. If you look closely, you will notice fine hair on their black bodies.
Ensign Wasps
Ensign wasps belong to the Evaniida family. These insects get their name as their abdomens move up and down, creating a flag-like illusion.
They are commonly called hatchet wasps.
Ensign wasps are excellent at keeping cockroach populations in check as the parasitoid larva feeds on cockroach eggs.
The female ensign wasps lay an egg in a cockroach egg cluster. The wasp larva hatches before the roaches and eats the egg to grow into an adult.
They look similar to tiny flies, but the abdomen has the shape of a triangular flag.
Honey Wasps
Honey wasps are some of the most fascinating insects in the world. These are the only species of wasps that can produce honey.
These wasps belong to the genus Brachygastra. Fascinatingly, there are around 17 species of these wasps.
They make honey by storing nectar and honeydew. These nectar reserves are kept in their nest to help the colony survive in harsh times.
These fascinating insects store honeydew and nectar in their bodies as a backup to help the colony survive in rough conditions.
There are similarities between honey bees and honey wasps. However, bees are more aggressive and live in larger colonies.
Sphecid Wasps
Sphecid wasps are a huge family of insects; there are around 8000 species worldwide. These insects are known for their tiny, thread-like waists.
Mud daubers, thread-waisted wasps, and sand wasps are some of the common types of sphecid wasps.
You can find different species of these wasps in North America.
The majority of sphecid wasp species are solitary and do not prefer to stay in large wasp colonies.
Frequently Asked Questions
What happens when a wasp stings you?
Wasps can deliver painful stings with their stingers, causing severe inflammation, swelling, and allergies.
However, not all species are aggressive towards humans and only sting if they feel highly threatened.
Wasps use their stingers to hunt insects for their larvae and for self-defense.
Can wasp stings be harmful?
Wasp venom is poisonous and is injected when stung. Wasps carry this venom, and some people have serious allergic reactions.
Symptoms of a wasp sting include swelling, rapid heart rate, difficulty breathing, hives, itching, and abdominal issues.
Emergency medical treatment may be needed for some reactions.
Is a wasp a bee?
Bees are smaller and hairier than wasps, which have slimmer and smoother bodies.
These insects live in structured colonies with defined hierarchies, while over 20,000 species of wasps are solitary.
They build large hives with hexagonal components, while wasps use paper pulp to create their nests.
Bees generally reside in green areas such as parks, woodlands, meadows, orchards, large gardens, and forests.
On the other hand, wasps are found around trees in shrubbery, orchards, and forests, as well as in urban settings, cities, and rocky areas.
Queen bees can live for up to 5 years, while worker bees live for around 2 to 6 weeks. Queen wasps live for a year, while worker wasps only live for up to 22 days.
What kills wasps instantly?
To get rid of wasps in your yard, you can hang wasp traps or spray active nests with store-bought wasp spray.
For small nests, use a mixture of soap and water to kill the wasps instantly.
You can also create a homemade trap using a soda bottle and soda or fruit juice.
Kill individual wasps with store-bought insecticides and treat future nesting areas with residual liquid insecticides.
Replace wasp traps often and hang them away from outdoor living areas. Wear protective clothing when spraying nests, and follow label directions on insecticides.
Wrap Up
Wasps are a big family of insects. There are different types of species scattered across the globe.
These fascinating creatures are classified according to their nesting habits, diet preferences, appearance, and more.
Many of these wasps have stingers. Yes, some have a bad reputation for being aggressive, but not all are the same.
Wasps are generally less aggressive towards humans and will not sting unless they are threatened.
These insects can help you get rid of pests naturally. However, if you are allergic to wasp stings, use the tips and tricks given in the article to eliminate them.
Thank you for reading.
Reader Emails
We get several emails every year from our readers asking us to identify various types of wasps and to help them get rid of them.
We wrote this article to provide some of the information in one place for all those who want to learn about wasps.
Please go through some of these emails where we have shared our answers as well.
Letter 1 – Hymenopteran, not Booklouse
Sun, Nov 2, 2008 at 4:32 AM
This little bug landed on my book over the summer. From the size of the letters, you can see the size of the bug. I have been unsuccessful in trying to identify it.
margie
central ny
- Unknown Hymenopteran
Hi Margie,
This is a Booklouse in the order Psocoptera. We are uncertain how to further classify it but we will check with Eric Eaton to see if he can narrow the identification more. According to BugGuide: “Book lice are best known for feeding on the starch in book bindings.” Your photo is quite detailed for a tiny insect.
Daniel:
The recent comment is absolutely correct. No way this is a booklouse. I hope I didn’t previously agree that it was! It is indeed some kind of wasp, perhaps a braconid, but it is an awkward angle to make a determination from the image alone.
Eric
Letter 2 – Campsomeris quadrimaculatus
Can you please tell me the name of the wasp in the attached picture? I captured it in Central Florida. It has 4 yellow dots on its black back.
Nick Campbell
Because of the large size, we believe this is Campsomeris quadrimaculatus and not the much smaller similarly colored Scolia nobilitata, which only reaches slightly over a centimeter in length. These are Scolid Wasps that prey on the larvae of Scarab Beetles. The female locates the grubs by digging. She then stings and paralyzes it and creates a chamber around the now immobile grub and then lays an egg. Adults visit flowers for nectar and females can sting painfully if provoked.
Letter 3 – Campsomeris quadrimaculatus
Hi,
Love your site.
I am a Canadian that has moved to central Florida and encounter bugs I have never seen before and can usually identify them from your site. I looked but could not find this hornet or is it a wasp? It is approximately 1″ 1/4 to 1″3/8 body, completely black except for 4 bright yellow dots on the back of the abdomen. Sorry for the quality of the pictures, didn’t have my good camera available when I ran into this specimen.
Mike D’Aguilar
Hi Mike,
Because of the large size, we believe this is Campsomeris quadrimaculatus and not the much smaller similarly colored Scolia nobilitata, which only reaches slightly over a centimeter in length. These are Scolid Wasps that prey on the larvae of Scarab Beetles. The female locates the grubs by digging. She then stings and paralyzes it and creates a chamber around the now immobile grub and then lays an egg. Adults visit flowers for nectar and females can sting painfully if provoked.
Letter 4 – Pelecinus polyturator by a Structuralist Insect Photographer
Hi there Bug People!
The evening of 3-August we were visiting a relative in Maryland (see particular data below). The evening was still, warm and humid. Clear sky for the most part. I was out near the porch light (as I usually am at this location due to the great number of insects, spiders, frogs and toads that appear each eve). I managed to get two photos of the insect in question – the better of the two is showing the specimen about 1 1/2 longer than it actually was. I originally thought this to be an Ichneumon Wasp…but now I am not sure. I can find no image of a similar type in the species. So, the question is: What exactly is this not-so-little lovely? you will see some left overs from its tangle with a spider web on the front left leg. Thank you for your time.
I like to photograph only the most taken for granted of things in the world…lowly mushrooms and fungus, insects, small rodents, amphibians, etc… I have included a few ( a very small sampling ) of my ‘insect world’ favorites for 2004. Hope you enjoy them! (Personally, I love the Imperial Moth that befriended my hand…the Stag is second place) All of these photos are from the location described below.
Kindest Regards,
Scott Pierson
Actual Location Data: (of all insect photos attached) Earleville, MD – in a small, private community named ‘Hazelmoor’.
Latitude: 39.4401 Longitude: -76.0247
Time is always (approx) between the hours of 20:30 to 00:00 hrs, EDT
My Goodness, Scott,
I admire the structuralist tendencies you have applied to your insect photographs. Your Odd Looking Wasp is Pelecinus polyturator, a large and striking insect. According to Borror and Delong: “The female is 2 inches or more in length, shining black, with the abdomen very long and slender; the male, which is extremely rare in this country, is about an inch long and has the posterior part of the abdomen swollen. The females do not sting. this insect is parasitic on the larvae of June Beetles.” The 4 3/4 inches you have indicated on your photograph makes your specimen a behemoth. We agree that your Imperial Moth photo is amazing.
Thank you for your reply – I didn’t realize that you’d already posted it the website! My previous email did not include that “I think the site is great!” What a service to folks – especially those interested in insects. This is a great wealth of information and the fact that there are photos to examine is priceless. It’s great that you take the time to help folks out like this. Thank you again! Kindest Regards, Scott Pierson
Letter 5 – Male Army Ant from Colombia
Geographic location of the bug: Colombia, South America.
Date: 11/24/2017
Time: 12:56 AM EDT
Well, I guess you know the introduction to this story: this buddy just came flying through my window. He was acting… weird, I guess. Sort of like dying, lots of pointless moves, really fast though; not being able to climb even a cardboard or use his wings. I just took some pics and immediately set him free. However, I didn’t really know where to start looking to identify him, looks like some kind of hairy termit; so I just came straight to your blog. Not my best quality pictures, I know. Anyways, could you give me a hand, bugman?
How you want your letter signed: More lost than ever, Daniel.
Dear Daniel,
Unfortunately, we do not have a definitive answer for you at this time but we are certain this is NOT a Termite. At first we thought this might be a flying Ant, one of the reproductive members of the colony, but the antennae just seem wrong to be an ant, but we still believe this is a member of the order Hymenoptera, the Ants, Bees and Wasps. With that, we are left with this being some species of Wasp, possibly a Digger Wasp in the family Scoliidae, but that is just a guess. Perhaps one of our readers will have a suggestion or comment. César Crash of Insetologia might have encountered this species in his Brazilian insect identification history.
Correction: Army Ant
Thanks to several comments from dchaves, we agree that this is a winged male Army Ant alate, which is pictured on Arkive, where it states: “A keystone species, Eciton burchelliiplays a critical role in Neotropical rainforest ecosystems.”
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