What is the Difference Between a Wasp and Yellowjacket and How To Kill Them Safely

Wasps are considered a family or a household name under which a yellow jacket is classified. Invasive species of wasps have the potential to become real threats. In this sense, the yellow jacket wasp represents a high risk for the Chilean social and ecological balance. What are the basic aspects of this species and its incidence as a pest? If you are only concerned about their extermination, then visit everpest.com/blogs/blog/how-to-get-rid-of-wasps for details on how to deal with them safely.

Yellow Jacket And Wasp: Characteristics And Behavior

The yellow jacket wasp (scientific name Vespula germanica) is an insect native to northern Europe. It was introduced in Chile in 1968 through hidden specimens in the containers of ships that arrived at the port of Valparaíso.

It has a series of distinctive physical and ethnological attributes that allow its identification, among them:

• Complexion: Its size ranges between 1 and 2 centimeters.  It has black antennae and a body with yellow spots, short legs, a bulging abdomen, and a low waist.
• Habitat: It prefers cold forests and mountain ranges, which explains its settlement in central Chile. Likewise, they usually live in underground nests with a diameter of 90 cm and 14 honeycombs or cells.
• Predator: Its diet is made up of carbohydrates and proteins, such as honey, nectar, fruits, other insects, and carrion.
• Aggressiveness: Attacks people if they handle meat, fish, or pick fruit outdoors.  The sting is a clear difference between the bee and the yellow jacket: while the former loses its sting, the latter can sting several times.
• Reproduction: Queen wasps begin the cycle when they are fertilized in the fall.  They survive the winter by hibernating underground or being protected in trees, cellars, and caves. Finally, they emerge in spring to form a new colony with a capacity of 20,000 workers and 175-200 queens.

In his time of awakening, the government authorities carry out the yellow jacket control. Thanks to this, for example, in 2020 a reduction of two million insects was achieved in the Los Ríos Region.

Yellow Jacket Wasp Hazards

•  Domestic Risks

The presence of a yellow jacket carries a constant danger to life at home, especially in health matters.

The venom contains a high concentration of antigens that activate the antibodies of the immune system.  This can cause common allergic reactions such as pain, fever, redness, swelling, or even anaphylactic shock, which can lead to kidney, heart, and liver failure.

• Economic And Ecological Risks

The Ministry of the Environment estimates that the yellow jacket has caused annual losses of US$21,532,771 and losses of US$496,995,010 are projected over the next twenty years.

The affected productive sectors demonstrate their interest in consolidating integrated pest management on the yellow jacket, to avoid risks in sectors such as:

• Viticulture: Yellowjackets crush berries as they feed, causing fruit loss and sour rot.
• Beekeeping: Prey on bees, deeply impacting the honey market.  In addition, the disappearance of native wild bees implies a break in the fertilization cycles of flowers and fruit trees.
• Floriculture And Fruit Growing: Damages the ripening fruits of apple trees, pear trees, figs, and quince, among others.
• Livestock: A difference between bees and yellow jackets is that the latter devour meat from exposed wounds of any type of livestock or poultry, unlike bees that do not eat meat directly, but only microbes, in addition to nectar, pollen, and honey.
• Tourism And Recreation: The influx of visitors to national reserves decreases.  This is because they harass people who bring barbecue meat.  Thus, the absence of a yellow jacket control leads to lower ticket sales during its busiest months.

Importance Of Pest Control Service

For the reasons stated, it is important to have adequate mechanisms to stop the advance of this harmful species.  Rentokil offers integrated pest management, such as wasps, with the expert advice and safety tools necessary for the home and business removal of wasps.

Consult or request your service before it becomes an unsustainable problem this spring.

How To Kill Earthen Wasps In The Country?

It is not easy to kill the invasion of wasps in a summer cottage, so this procedure must be resorted to even at the first stages of nest formation. The first thing to do in this case is to protect yourself from the possible damage of disturbed insects. To do this, you need to get a special suit used to work with bees, including a protective mask, wear clothes and shoes made of dense fabric, and protect your face with a mosquito net cloth.

Before destroying the nest, all paths for the migration of insects into the garden buildings must be closed. To do this, it is necessary to close all doors and, if possible, attics and basements. After that, you can, directly, proceed to the destruction of wasps.

Do this in the late evening or at night when they are less active. Most often, various contact methods are used for this. With the help of them, you can directly influence all insects, their larvae, etc.

Important! In the case of the use of toxic substances, access to the site should be closed to pets and small children. Poisonous substances of insecticides, even in small quantities, can cause severe poisoning or better still, you can visit everpest.com/collections/all to discover some high quality devices which can help you drive them away from your apartment.

Apply For This:

• Burning – the hole and the nearby soil should be filled with 1-2 liters of kerosene or another rapidly flammable liquid. After that, the mixture should be set on fire, and the entire contents of the hole are instantly ignited, which contributes to the death of adults and their offspring;
• Boiling Water – the nest must be filled with 10–20 liters of boiling water, and then its entrance should be closed with a stone or any other object. This method is no less effective than burning out while being almost completely safe for the environment;
• Contact Insecticides – the hole and the soil are flooded with specialized poisonous compounds that have a toxic effect. Almost any specialized means can serve as such, however, the most commonly used drugs for this are Karbofos, Aktara, Solfisan, Kukaracha, Troapsil, and Tsimbush;
• Poisoned Baits – near the nest, you should install feeders with pickled food. To do this, the contact insecticide should be supplemented with boric acid salts (according to the instructions), and then treat sweet fruits (melon, watermelon, etc.) with the resulting liquid. Also, on its basis, you can prepare a syrup, which should be placed in a small saucer. The method is quite effective but may require at least 2 weeks.

Destruction Of Earthen Wasps In The Country

Wasps on the site every year become an increasing problem for the modern gardener. In search of food, they can migrate closer and closer to humans, settling right on the territory of the beds. Such a neighborhood, over time, can lead to aggressive contact and quite serious consequences. Therefore, in the event of the appearance of insects, one should not hesitate, otherwise, it will be much more difficult to overcome it.

How To Exterminate Earthen Wasps

Wasps living underground are very dangerous for humans. They regret it a lot. At the site of the lesion, edema immediately occurs, and the body temperature rises. The venom of the earthen wasp can cause a severe allergic reaction. It is accompanied by nausea, headache, decreased pressure, weakness, and general malaise.

When getting rid of earthen wasps in the country, you need to act carefully to avoid their attack. You need to choose the right time to fight. November or March is considered the best option. During this period, insects show little activity: they either have not yet woken up or have already fallen asleep for the winter. This will protect against swarm attacks. In addition, all actions to kill wasps must be carried out either late in the evening or early in the morning.

Note! It is necessary to carefully prepare not only insect control products but also clothing. It should be made of thick fabric with a hood. The face must be protected with a mosquito net, and thick gloves made of leather or rubber are put on the hands. The bottom of the trousers and the sleeves of the jacket are wrapped with elastic bands so that the wasps cannot get under the clothes.

The safest and most reliable method of how to kill wasps in a country house on the ground is the destruction of the uterus since the swarm is very dependent on it. Before the cold sets in, you need to find the location of the nest, dig it up, and burn it. It is important to ensure that the uterus does not remain in the ground. If you don’t have enough time to do these, then visit everpest.com/ for a faster approach.

You can also destroy pests if you put a piece of carbide next to the entrances to the hole. It is filled with water, as a result, a poisonous gas is released. It kills insects. Efficiency can be increased by covering the entrance to the nest with a bag. It will block access to air and will not allow insects to fly out.