Wasps are poisonous insects that are found in different places: near ponds, in a meadow, in a field, in a village and in a city. A painful bite of a “striped bee”, as they are sometimes called, will have to be treated for several days, perhaps contact an allergist. However, in relation to humans and animals, only one species is aggressive, many others peacefully coexist with the outside world.

Description and features of insects

Wasps ─ stinging insects that are not related to ants and bees from the suborder stalkerobryuyye. A mature individual of different species reaches from 1.5 to 10 cm, a female ─ 16-18 cm.

Did you know? Paleontologists have found hymenopteran insects in sediments of the Jurassic period: more than 170 million years ago.

The external structure of the wasp:

• head transversely elongated, free. A pair of complex eyes ─ faceted, form bulges on the sides. Eye capsules consist of structural cones, elongated and interconnected to the apex, in the bases forming a grid. The insect sees the whole thing in a direct mosaic image. Between the facets are simple eyes, in some species blind. To consider how many eyes a wasp can only be at close range: simple eyes are very small;
• antennae serve as antennas and have a complex structure: from three to sixty segments. They help a stinging insect navigate in space, determine the direction of the wind, taste, and depth of the hole for laying eggs;
• mouth ─ gnawing in most species, the upper jaw is highly developed, designed to grind food, carry building material, kill enemies;
• chest consists of three segmentstightly interconnected;
• two pairs of webbed wingscolored or transparent, with or without rare veins. The front wings are longer, in flight they are connected to the rear special hooks, creating a single surface;
• six walking paws have five segments, in some species adapted to collect pollen;
• the abdomen is found in various forms. Connected to the chest, has 6-8 motile segments. In the back ─ sting, in a calm state retracted;
• thin mobile connection between the belly and chest Allows the insect to bend at different angles, stinging the enemy.

Wasp structure

Benefit

• There are such types of these stinging insects that are useful to humans:
• solitary: typhus, scoli destroy aphids, flies, spiders, extracting protein for proper nutrition of larvae;
• the digging little wasp Larra destroys the bear in the garden, laying eggs in the body of the pest, without harming other insects and animals;
• skolii pollinate flowering plants, destroying harmful insects: bronzovka, rhinoceros beetles, laying eggs in the victim's body;
• wasp venom is used in medicine. It is believed that the unique composition of the poison of the Brazilian species is able to fight cancer cells;
• paper wasps prey on flying insects: flies, mosquitoes. Do not disdain leaflets, aphids. By reducing the number of pests, they save the garden;
• adults feed on plant foods, nectar. Flying from plant to plant, pollinate them;
• indirectly, poisonous insects protect harmless neighbors in the garden: the color of beneficial insects “under wasps” helps to avoid their destruction by birds.

Did you know? The tropical cockroach wasp very intimately strikes the victim - the cockroach, turning it into a zombie. After that, he controls the victim, taking the antennae to the nest and laying eggs in his body.

Harm

• Harm wasps are more noticeable than good:
• sweet apples, grapes, plums ─ a favorite treat of striped insects. The “warning system” between them works quickly if urgent measures are not taken, in a few days the pests will destroy most of the grape harvest, gnaw the sweetest fruits;
• bees suffer from wasps more often than others. Climbing into the hive, predators destroy the stock of honey, reducing reproduction. Protecting stocks, a large number of working bees perishes;
• defending themselves, stinging insects inflict painful bites. Dangerous poison can cause an allergic reaction. Having attacked a person or animal, stinging him, the wasp releases an enzyme that attracts fellow tribesmen, while the bite of several wasps is dangerous for humans, and for a small animal it can end in death.

Types of wasps

There are many biological species of wasps. Two varieties are most pronounced: public and solitary.

Public (paper) live in families, jointly take care of the offspring, the head of the colony is the uterus:

Single wasps have a simple nest structure. The female independently lays eggs, raises offspring.

Important! The bright color of the wasp and the unpleasant taste of the poison helps to scare away the birds.

The most common types of single wasps:

• pompilides (road). They dig minks, hunt spiders, paralyzing them with a quick sting. Color: black torso, red or yellow spots. Long thin legs are equipped with digging combs;
• Germans (velvet ants). Wasps got the second name due to the similar appearance of wingless females covered with thin hairs. Males of the species are larger, black and brown. Females are bright, in red colors, with a pattern of black and red hairs on the abdomen;
• spangles. Bright blue-green-red shade with shine. The insect is a parasite, the host is a bee, wasp-vespin, sawfly. Males differ in 5 segments on the abdomen (in females ─ 4). Destroy insect larvae of pests, pollinate plants;
• choli. Black insects with orange and yellow spots on the abdomen. During breeding, they actively destroy rhinoceros beetles, grouse, laying eggs in the bodies of pest larvae;
• typhias. Black with red paws. The species is common in all corners of the globe. They live mainly on umbrella plants. In a moment of danger are able to curtail. Earth-moving wasps, destroy pest larvae, are considered useful;
• sand (digging) The main difference in gender: the male is larger than the female. Outwardly, they differ in a very elongated first segment of the abdomen, red at the base. The rest of the insect is black and blue. Hunter: destroys butterflies, caterpillars, laying them in minks for subsequent feeding of offspring.

Lifestyle & Habitat

The largest number of stinging insects appears during fruit harvest: a massive attack on vineyards and fruit trees is observed in late July and early September. Until mid-summer, wasps are much smaller. In the fall, gardeners destroy empty beehives so as not to attract dangerous insects next spring. Young fertilized females fly away from the old hive for the winter. Wintering houses are rotten hemp, tree bark, crevices of buildings.

Going into hibernation (diapause), the wasp chooses a place protected from temperature extremes. In social species, working females also leave the nest. By the onset of cold weather, they become lethargic, inactive. They perish from the onset of cold weather, birds. At a temperature of + 15 ° C, females come out of hibernation, begin to build a new nest and lay eggs.

Life span

The life span of stinging insects depends on their type, position in the family:

• males live two to three months. After mating, leave the hive and die;
• working females live for a month and a half, many die while flying for food;
• colony founding females live longer than others. After mating, before the onset of cold weather, they leave the nest, settling in the winter hut. Uterus live up to a year, with a successful choice of a place for hibernation ─ several years.

Where do wasps live?

The “place of residence” of wasps depends on the type and method of food. Paper public wasps live in the garden, in the attics, under the roof of private houses. Honeycombs are built, often deepening the nest in the rafters or the floor covering in the attic. In the cells of the cells, the uterus lays one egg each. The breeding and feeding of offspring is carried out by female wasp workers. Males live only until mating.

Single species in most houses are not built, taking minks from spiders, mice, large insects. They lay eggs in the body of a dead insect, do not care about the offspring, so the life of the larvae is often short: until the first cold or a flying bird.

Breeding

A key role in the reproduction of hymenopteran insects is played by the female. A fertilized individual hibernates in the fall, with the onset of heat begins to build a new nest and lay eggs in the cells of cells. One cell ─ one larva. In the initial stages, the uterus feeds offspring with its secret, fermented insect remains.

Having reached the developmental stage, the larvae are sealed in a cell and form a cocoon. At the beginning of summer, working individuals fly out of the cells. Their task is to feed the larvae, from which males and new females, ready for fertilization, will grow in the fall.

What do wasps eat?

The choice of stinging insect food depends on age. Paper wasps get food for larvae: fermented body parts of spiders, beetles, caterpillars, butterflies, slugs. Fermented remains feed the young, able only to turn their heads. For bees, wasps during the growing period of larvae are especially dangerous, attacking hives and hunting larvae can completely destroy honey reserves.

Important! Insects love fallen fruits that begin to roam. The poetat lovoshki for wasps in the garden can be prepared by arranging small containers with kvass and beer.

Single species mainly lay eggs in the body of beetles, their larvae, providing their own offspring with food for the first time. Mature individuals ─ sweet tooth. A large colony is able to destroy most of the grape harvest and plums, significantly damage apples, pears. In the fall, the female accumulates substances that can withstand the cold, like antifreeze. In winter, the insect is in a state of hibernation (diapause), life processes at this time are suspended.

What to do if a wasp has bitten?

Most likely to get a bite in the middle of summer. Mature individuals eat sweet fruits and berries, so you can often find a dangerous insect in the garden. Only females inflict painful bites: the sting is an ovipositor changed during the evolution process. Smooth weapons quickly move out of the body, striking, just as quickly pulled back. Sometimes she is able to make several attacks until the stock of poison is exhausted.

Having removed the stinging weapon, the wasp that did not get damaged flies away, in contrast to the bee, which has notches on the sting that prevent it from being removed from the victim’s body, resulting in the death of a useful insect.

Important! When bitten by more than three insects, you must definitely go to the hospital!

As part of the paper wasp venom:

• neurotoxins that can lead to suffocation, paralysis, disrupt blood pressure;
• hyaluronidase ─ destroys cell membranes, causing redness and itching at the site of the bite;
• histamine, provoking an allergic reaction;
• acetylchonin, which affects the manifestation of nerve impulses, causes pain after a bite;
• phospholipases ─ destroy the walls of blood cells and tissues.

The danger of poison is in possible Quincke's edema, which is accompanied by shortness of breath. Anaphylactic shock caused by a bite, without urgent medical attention, can be fatal.

Immediately after a bite you need:

1. Rinse the wound thoroughly.
2. Disinfect the bite site with peroxide, alcohol, soap or furatsilin.
3. Apply a cold compress.
4. Take an antihistamine. The tool will help relieve swelling, itching, burning after a bite.
5. Lie down, drink plenty of fluids.

Hot tea, sweetened water will help restore strength and neutralize the effects of poison on the body. Edema from a bite can last from several hours to several days, accompanied by an increase in temperature. the victim must be monitored constantly. At the slightest sign of an allergic reaction, provide emergency medical care. It is possible to neutralize the effect of aspen poison by parsley juice, lemon, dandelion milk.

Important! If the sting remains in the wound, you need to get it with tweezers or a needle, disinfected with alcohol.

Sour berries, sorrel juice soothe pain. To consider wasps necessary or not, the question has not been resolved even by scientists. The main rule: Hymenoptera in itself is not aggressive, it does not attack without provocation. The benefits and harms of insects in nature are balanced. Many species help the garden and the garden by destroying beetles, spiders, bear, aphids and butterflies.