The Labor Day weekend seemed to result in our backyard hosting a number of family members in the last “summer” weekend. Along with the invited guests, we also attracted many uninvited guests, yellow jackets. I don’t think we ever had a picnic without someone getting stung. Sodas, a brew or two, and children’s fruity drinks were like buffets to these insects. Let’s talk a bit about yellow jackets, hornets and wasps.

Hornets, wasps and bees all belong to the Insect Order Hymenoptera (membrane winged). There are about 17,000 species in this Order in the United States alone. Probably those most familiar to all of us are the yellow jackets, bald-faced hornets, paper wasps and mud dauber wasps. I’ll focus a bit on these four. They all belong to the Family Vespidae. Their common traits include two pair of wings (unlike flies that have only one pair) and are often very strong fliers. Almost all wasps and hornets also have a narrow “waist” which connects the thorax (where wings are attached) and the abdomen. This narrow area is called a pedicel. It is quite obvious in some species. All these species also use complete metamorphosis; the egg, larva, pupa and adult stages. They are attracted to the sweet things, nectar in flowers and your soda cup.

The populations of wasps and hornets peak in late summer and early autumn so your late summer picnic or backyard barbecue probably will receive a lot of their attention. Most of us have learned to peek inside the soda cup before taking a sip. A lesson learned when you were younger and got stung. You can only blame the female wasps and hornets because they are the only ones with stingers. Insect stingers are actually modified ovipositors (egg-laying organs) which only females have.

Yellow jackets are a type of hornet. They feed mostly on nectar and pollen, however they will capture small insects, chew them up and carry that back to the larvae in the nests. Yellow jackets most often nest in the ground or at the base of rotting stumps. My son, on one of our early fall hikes, kicked into a stump and he was covered with dozens of angry yellow jackets. Luckily, he only had a half dozen stings.

Bald-faced hornets chew wood to build sometimes football-sized gray nests. They can be tucked into shrubs or “molded” into tree limb forks. They often go unnoticed until fall when the dropping foliage uncovers them. Both of these hornet species are very protective of their nests and sting very quickly.

Wasps, fortunately, are less aggressive. Paper wasp nests are commonly found under eaves, especially in less-used structures. Usually, unless you actually bump or attempt to knock down the nest, they will leave you alone. Mud dauber wasps build small claylike structures in the same type of locations. These wasps, after laying an egg in this case, will bring a spider into the tube, close it up and the larva will eat it and mature there.

All I discussed above overwinter with the mated females finding a spot in the soil or leaf litter to wait out the winter. The males and other workers will die.

Test Your Outdoor Knowledge: In length of days, the shortest part of an insect’s life in many cases is the _____ stage. A. larva, B. pupa, C. adult.

Last Week’s Trivia: Since 1990, when the first fishers were reintroduced, they now inhabit three quarters of Pennsylvania’s counties.

Contact Barry Reed at breed71@gmail.com.