Its a known fact that people do not like wasps, and with good reason. All they do is fly around bothering you while you are trying to enjoy the great outdoors. But there is one type of wasp you should keep your eye on– The Black Wasp. This wasp has a big black body with blue wings (looking similar to a flying ant.) Other names that this wasp goes by is “Katydid Hunter” and “Steel-blue Cricket Hunter.” The black wasp is a non-aggressive species of the digger wasps, and is an excellent pollinator and predator of harmful insects. Living out of solitary nests in the ground, adults feed from nectar and pollen mid-summer to early fall. Some of their favorites include milkweed, Queen Anne’s lace and white clover. Females will fly around looking for prey, then paralyze it and bring it back to the nest to feed larvae. These wasps will not sting unless provoked, so leave them be!
Van Dyke Gardens: Wasps
Wasp Nests!
A couple of days ago, I noticed a large almost bee-hive looking ball in my front yard Dogwood. Upon closer examination- it turns out to be a giant wasps nest! Not only was there one wasp nest- there was two. Right above where I park my car to boot! We have called an exterminator to help us deal with this problem and remove the nests, but for now they stay. You can capture wasps just like yellow-jackets, if you are worried about them flying in your backyard and potentially stinging someone. You can read our article on How To Make A Yellow-Jacket Trap to help guide you through building a trap. Heres what the nests look like in our tree.
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