Comments on: Giant mutant wasps! http://www.yourish.com/2005/09/10/39 Cutting straight to the point Sat, 21 Nov 2009 16:14:34 -0700 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.4 hourly 1 By: Rahel http://www.yourish.com/2005/09/10/39/comment-page-1#comment-117 Rahel Mon, 12 Sep 2005 14:55:39 +0000 http://www.yourish.com/?p=39#comment-117 Wait a sec -- you've got a "Bugs" category, but not one for cats?? Wait a sec — you’ve got a “Bugs” category, but not one for cats??

]]> By: Dr. Weevil http://www.yourish.com/2005/09/10/39/comment-page-1#comment-115 Dr. Weevil Sun, 11 Sep 2005 23:11:11 +0000 http://www.yourish.com/?p=39#comment-115 The deal with wasps and bees is that the social ones are aggressive, because they can afford to lose a worker or two protecting the queen and the nest. That includes paper wasps (brownish, with conical paper nests), yellowjackets, hornets, honeybees, and (I think) bumblebees. The solitary wasps like cicada-killers and mud-daubers (steel-blue with smoky wings and 'organ-pipe' nests on barn and basement walls) are very unaggressive. There are solitary bees, too, but only an entomologist would notice them. Of course, cicada killers look a lot like hornets, only bigger, so it's not easy to take them calmly. One more pertinent fact: the pain of the sting has little to with the size of the wasp. I've been lucky enough to miss the experience, but everyone says that the wasp with the worst sting of all is the "velvet ant", which (you'll be glad to hear) can't even fly. Velvet ants are not ants at all but wingless wasps, about an inch long, and covered with beautiful red and black fur. If you see one (usually at the beach), do not attempt to befriend it. The deal with wasps and bees is that the social ones are aggressive, because they can afford to lose a worker or two protecting the queen and the nest. That includes paper wasps (brownish, with conical paper nests), yellowjackets, hornets, honeybees, and (I think) bumblebees. The solitary wasps like cicada-killers and mud-daubers (steel-blue with smoky wings and ‘organ-pipe’ nests on barn and basement walls) are very unaggressive. There are solitary bees, too, but only an entomologist would notice them. Of course, cicada killers look a lot like hornets, only bigger, so it’s not easy to take them calmly.

One more pertinent fact: the pain of the sting has little to with the size of the wasp. I’ve been lucky enough to miss the experience, but everyone says that the wasp with the worst sting of all is the “velvet ant”, which (you’ll be glad to hear) can’t even fly. Velvet ants are not ants at all but wingless wasps, about an inch long, and covered with beautiful red and black fur. If you see one (usually at the beach), do not attempt to befriend it.

]]> By: Elisson http://www.yourish.com/2005/09/10/39/comment-page-1#comment-112 Elisson Sun, 11 Sep 2005 20:39:29 +0000 http://www.yourish.com/?p=39#comment-112 I remember seeing cicada-killers in Texas, and surely this is what you were dealing with. Supposedly they are non-aggressive (unlike the small but vicious yellowjacket), but they are Honkin' Big Wasps, and, as such, scare the living bejeezus out of most people - including me. I remember seeing cicada-killers in Texas, and surely this is what you were dealing with. Supposedly they are non-aggressive (unlike the small but vicious yellowjacket), but they are Honkin’ Big Wasps, and, as such, scare the living bejeezus out of most people – including me.

]]> By: Dr. Weevil http://www.yourish.com/2005/09/10/39/comment-page-1#comment-110 Dr. Weevil Sun, 11 Sep 2005 15:33:41 +0000 http://www.yourish.com/?p=39#comment-110 Correction and amplification: Despite it's name, the cicada killer doesn't kill cicadas, it paralyzes them, buries them, and lays its eggs on them, one per cicada. As it grows, the wasp grub nibbles off all the non-vital bits of the cicada first, before eating the rest. That way the cicada stays fresh without refrigeration. The makers of Aliens must have heard about this disgusting practice, because in the movie the mother alien keeps a bunch of live humans glued to the wall of her lair to feed her young with. So maybe you were right to kill the wasp. Correction and amplification: Despite it’s name, the cicada killer doesn’t kill cicadas, it paralyzes them, buries them, and lays its eggs on them, one per cicada. As it grows, the wasp grub nibbles off all the non-vital bits of the cicada first, before eating the rest. That way the cicada stays fresh without refrigeration. The makers of Aliens must have heard about this disgusting practice, because in the movie the mother alien keeps a bunch of live humans glued to the wall of her lair to feed her young with. So maybe you were right to kill the wasp.

]]> By: Dr. Weevil http://www.yourish.com/2005/09/10/39/comment-page-1#comment-109 Dr. Weevil Sun, 11 Sep 2005 15:29:33 +0000 http://www.yourish.com/?p=39#comment-109 Was it mostly black, with a couple of cream-colored (not yellow) bars on the abdomen? If so, it's a cicada killer, Sphecius speciosus, the largest North American species, an inoffensive beast that is unlikely to sting you without gross provocation (like trying to kill it). It only kills cicadas, so whether it is a good or bad wasp depends on what you think of cicadas. Was it mostly black, with a couple of cream-colored (not yellow) bars on the abdomen? If so, it’s a cicada killer, Sphecius speciosus, the largest North American species, an inoffensive beast that is unlikely to sting you without gross provocation (like trying to kill it). It only kills cicadas, so whether it is a good or bad wasp depends on what you think of cicadas.

]]>