Have you noticed the sun doesn’t feel quite so hot lately? Maybe you’ve spotted a few colored leaves on the trees. Or perhaps there is even a little nip in the air at night. Yes, summer is coming to an end. Soon it will be time to get the house ready for winter and to dig out all the warm winter clothing. But let’s not think about that just yet. For now, you probably want to simply enjoy the last days of summer as much as you can. And while you are enjoying one last pool party or barbecue, you probably don’t want to have to deal with stinging insects ruining your fun. Why do these pesky, party wreckers seem to get so aggressive at this time of year?
The Story Behind Those Angry Insects
The reason some stinging insects seem to become more aggressive in late summer, early fall, is because they are grumpy and hungry. See, all summer long, wasp worker females have been at work, non-stop, taking care of brood after brood of hungry baby stinging insects. Did you know that one queen can produce as many as 1,000 workers in one summer? And they don’t bother us too much because they are simply too busy working. These young insects need a lot of protein since these newly hatched larvae must undergo full-body metamorphoses, first into pupae, then into flying (and stinging) adults.
Once workers find food, they must chew the source (anything from dead insects and carrion to caterpillars, flies, or crickets) into a paste for all of those hungry mouths. And at the end of the day, when the little ones have been fed, there isn’t much opportunity for the workers themselves to get a bite to eat. So, it stands to reason that, once the work is done at the end of the season, and the new fertile queens fly away, all those tired workers are feeling just a little bit agitated. And they are only interested in one thing. Eating.
So, if there are sources of food around for these hungry stinging insects, they are going to be all over them, literally. This is why, in the late summer and early fall, you will notice these wasps hanging around us in high numbers, crawling on soda cans, candy, cupcakes and all things sweet.
But before you get the idea that all you need to do is remove a few nests, think again. These insects are aggressive any time of year when their nest is threatened. So it is best to leave nest removal to the professionals. Here at Adam’s Pest Control, our trained technicians know exactly what products and protective equipment are needed to safely remove the nests of stinging insects.
Don’t take chances with these grumpy, hungry, insects, reach out to Adam’s Pest Control today for help. Then, you can enjoy the remainder of your summer without being overwhelmed by stinging insects.
Photo credits to the owner
