Red is the New Black (and Yellow)

Red Wasps
 

If you live in the southern or eastern portions of the United States, you have likely been terrorized by Red Wasps at some point in your life. These rust-colored rascals emerge with the rest of their Vespidae cohort in the early days of spring to establish nests.

Red wasps are often considered to be more aggressive than garden-variety paper wasps and will sting when they perceive a threat to their life or territory. Unfortunately, they have a tendency to establish nests in and around man-made structures, which means that their territory might also be your territory.

Identification

Thanks to their eerie, monochromatic color scheme, red wasps are easy to identify. If you’re noticing wasps around your house with reddish-brown coloring, it’s a safe bet that you have a red wasp nest nearby. Like their paper wasp cousins, red wasps build open-honeycomb nests that are shaped like an umbrella. Nests are often found in and around the eaves of roofs and other man-made structures.

Try These Trapping Tips
 

Place Traps Near the Nest

Place a RESCUE! Wasp TrapStik in close proximity to the nest (5 – 10 feet). The Wasp TrapStik relies on a visual pattern to attract insects, so it’s important to place the trap in an area where it will be seen by the wasps. If you notice the trap isn’t catching any wasps after 2 – 3 days, try moving it to a different location. Before placing or moving your trap, consider the next tip.

Set or Move Your Traps at Night

Insects are less active when temperatures are cooler, so try to set your traps very early in the morning or late at night when the wasps are less motivated to sting you. The same advice applies if you are moving your trap to a different location.

Images for this blog are used under Public Domain from UT Austin's Insects Unlocked collection.