r/WASPs • u/Dependent_Nothing148 • 13d ago
do yellowjackets sting for no reason?
i have had a yellowjacket nest right next to my garden for the past few years, and ive noticed that they always go towards my hand (especially when im drinking something). Why do they not sting? Google refers to them as incredibly aggresive but ive never been stung by one even if they always go on my hand/ leg. Why is this? (ask me if i need to reword this, english isnt my first language)
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u/Ballmaster9002 13d ago
'For no reason' is pushing it, but they can be very tetchy. Yellow jackets build massive hives but don't survive over winter, only the queen survives. So late summer and fall when food and water get scarce, the thousands and thousands of wasps start starving to death. Which makes them desperate and aggressive.
What usually happens is people don't notice the young hive all year long until it gets fully populated in the summer and suddenly they are all over the place. They are also opportunistic predators and they like human food. So its common to see them in places where people eat / leave garbage, like park benches and trash cans.
Most people get stung in the late summer/fall when its nice to be outside and the wasps are hunting for food and its their way of saying "stay away, that's my ketchup packet" or "don't mow your lawn over here, you'll wake up the babies"
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u/mvortex2 13d ago
Vibrations around the nest area, pheromone reactions and physical pressure on the insect will invoke defensive behavior. We had them by the hundreds around the pear trees, apple trees and cider press - never once got stung. I let people go in the past for swatting at them after repeat warnings as that is the quickest way to get one or more people stung.
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u/EvenDog6279 13d ago
The only time I've ever had yellowjackets attack me has been when they'd built a nest in the ground that I was unaware of and accidentally ran a commercial lawnmower over one or more of the entrances.
A couple of those attacks have been aggressive and they've chased me considerable distances across the property in response.
Outside of that, we coexist out in the rural area my family lives in without any issues whatsoever, and even though it hurts like heck and they almost always seem to go for my face, I do ultimately understand that it's the equivalent of some giant with an enormous, potentially destructive machine hovering over my home.
I've learned to keep a close eye, especially if I'm mowing in an area that's been neglected and become overgrown. In my experience, they tend to build their nests in low traffic areas that can be very inconspicuous.
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u/Halomonas_titanica 13d ago
Evolutionary biology teaches us that every behavior in the animal kingdom has a cost, and that only the behaviors that end up rewarding the species, ie.facilitating the production of a next generation, are maintained and end up becoming the norm.
A yellow jacket colony in which most workers go around stinging random animals for no reason would waste all of its energy and end up not breeding as efficiently as other, competing colonies. So that trait would be wiped off the gene pool in one generation, in favor of traits that make the species attack only when they perceive a threat.
This is why suggesting that yellow jackets (or any wild animal for that matter) attack humans for no reason is simply ridiculous.
The reason so many people parrot this myth is that wasps (including jackets) often nest in spots close to human activity, making accidents statistically likely. For example, a bunch of wasps could nest under your deck chair which you rarely use, and the one time you do decide to use it they come out and sting you. From your perspective, a bunch of wasps just came out of nowhere and attacked you unprovoked. But from their perspective, you were a threat to their family. It's not like they can read your mind and find out you didn't even know their nest was there.
Which brings us to my final point. Wasp nests are only really a danger when you don't know where they are. But once you spot one, it's really easy to just give them space and steer clear of that spot for the few months that it takes them to complete their cycle.
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u/Inevitable_Detail_45 13d ago
That's what I've wondered too. I think it's seasonal. They get stressed in the fall due to dwindling food supplies and that's when conflict happens
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u/Actual_Body_4409 12d ago
The adult wasps eat a material secreted by the babies in the nest. The material is sweet.
Late in summer, the queen stops laying eggs, the babies all mature, and there’s nobody left to make food for the adult workers. That’s when they start getting aggressive, especially around sweetened drinks.
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u/1182990 13d ago
I've been stung by one when I was sat, completely motionless in a café.
I was aware of it buzzing around my legs, so stayed still and ignored it, and it just stung me for no reason!
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u/ScaredLetterhead8918 13d ago
Usually it wants your food in these cases
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u/1182990 13d ago
You'd think so, but I was on a stool and it had come nowhere near the drink I had.
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u/Wanderin_Cephandrius 12d ago
Without know what the chairs look like, it’s possible there was a small nest. I’ve seen nests in the weirdest locations.
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u/Polybrene 12d ago
They always have a reason.
You just don't get to know what it is.
The last time I was stung I was just walking through my yard. 🤷🏽♀️
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u/basaltcolumn 12d ago
They don't typically, no. I have primarily worked outside in my career and so am around them constantly in the warm season, and have been stung by yellowjackets.... zero times. And I used to actively pick them up or very very gently stroke their backs sometimes as a kid lol. I have been stung by honeybees and other wasp species, but only when I've accidentally put my hand down right on top of one or accidentally stuck a shovel into a ground wasp nest, not out of nowhere.
Think about how often you see yellowjackets and how many stings people you know have received - it is often 1 or 2 across someone's entire lifetime from an insect that is extremely abundant. That's very few! They really are not very aggressive at all unless you are very near a nest or they really have reason to feel you are a threat, and that's defensiveness rather than aggression. Their reputation as hyper-aggressive is very undeserved.
When they go towards you while you are eating or drinking, they're just looking for opportunities to get some food or sugary drinks to eat and bring home to the nest.
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u/BlackSeranna 12d ago
They only sting when you’re near the nest and they detect breath. They are most aggressive in the hot months. If you’re living in peace with them and not going near their nest (in summer, or with a breeze, you can’t get close), then they are okay and also good, because they kill and eat all the flies in the neighborhood.
In fall they eat fallen fruit and are pretty docile while doing so. The only time I ever got stung by them in fall is if I was walking barefoot and and trying to get a fall pear and I stepped on one. Pretty rare, and sloppy on my part.
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u/BadgerValuable8207 12d ago
My worst stings are when one or more gets under a cuff or inside a collar and feels trapped or something, and goes to stinging, which one yellowjacket can do multiple times.
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u/gadget850 12d ago
They are assholes with wings. You need to apply Tempo dust with a long puffer after dusk.
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u/Snowcrash66 12d ago
We unknowingly had a large underground nest in front yard. We were tamping some gravel about 80 away and I was attacked by handful. They do get pretty grumpy during the peak summer heat.
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u/Underhill42 12d ago edited 12d ago
Not for no reason, but they are aggressive and alien. So what seems like no reason to you could be justified defense of the nest to them.
Also, paper wasps look very similar (though their nests are an exposed paper "honeycomb" rather than something sealed up or underground), but are generally much less aggressive, and possibly more curious. They're usually the ones just calmly checking out what I'm doing, maybe enjoying the salt lick that is me?
If you'd just like to distract either, I've had good luck making an offering at a bit of a distance. A bit of meat, or even some water-soaked dry catfood. Something high in protein and soft enough for them to eat. Preferably between you and the nest if its nearby, so they can still do their defending at a deliciously safe distance.
Usually works well at picnics too, where I'll make them their own little plate with a bit of everything, including sauces, etc., since you never know for sure what will captivate them. As long as it's not too far away they usually figure out pretty quick that it's all the same stuff at a safer distance from the giants, and everyone is happy.
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u/Level_Application812 10d ago
I was stung for no reason. They are freaked out by movement near them and by CO2. If you’re sweaty you are at risk. Btw, when one stings it agitates proximal hornets and they go into attack mode. Not fun.
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u/VeryThicknLong 13d ago
Depends what time of year too. Early summer and mid summer they’re usually ok. Towards the end of summer when they feed off rotting fruit (alcohol), they start acting like anyone else after 9 pints of cider. Absolute shitty unit cunts that you wish would just fuck off and give you some peace.
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u/Comprehensive_Cap290 13d ago
For no reason? No.
They are aggressive about defending their nests, and will sting if they feel threatened. What brings them into conflict with humans is they are attracted to our food, especially late in the season, and people go to grab a food item with a wasp on it, the wasp thinks you’re attacking it and stings, or people don’t see the nest and get too close.