Saturday, July 26, 2025

Wasps In Our Neighborhood

You may notice wasps emerging from the ground this month, as well as paper wasp nests in trees around our neighborhood. The wasps emerging from sandy mounds are Eastern Cicada Killers, and the ones in the paper nests are a type of aerial yellow jacket referred to as a Bald-Faced Hornet (but they're not true hornets, which are larger and more aggressive). Both types of wasps are beneficial insects, as they are pollinators and prey on pest insects. 

The cicada killers use cicadas to feed their larvae, which helps keep the cicada population in check (too many cicadas can cause harm to trees).  The adult cicada killer wasps feed on nectar. Only the female cicada killer is capable of stinging, and will only do so if handled roughly.  For more on the Eastern Cicada Killer wasp: 


The bald-faced hornets feed on ground-dwelling yellow jackets and other insects, as well as  nectar. While the bald faced hornets are aggressive when their nests are disturbed, they otherwise don't pose a threat. If a paper wasp nest is within 3-5 feet of a heavily trafficked area, you should consider removing it; otherwise, it should not pose a threat. The links below provides information on how to safely remove a paper wasp nest.

https://extension.umd.edu/resource/social-wasps-yellowjackets-hornets-and-paper-wasps/ 



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