Across Texas, most locals are familiar with the bald-faced hornets. Though these insects contribute to pollinating, they can be a threat to people and pets. To help you identify bald-faced hornets, we at A-Tex Pest Management would like to take the opportunity to expound on them today.
How Do I Identify a Bald-Faced Hornet & Nest?
Significantly resembling paper, the bald-faced hornets are social insects that construct their nests from the cellulose materials (plant and tree substances). Though they more closely related to yellow jackets than they are hornets and bald-faced wasps, bald faced hornets are commonly mistaken for bees due to their coloring and size. Built the spring in order to rear their young, their sphere-shaped paper-like nests can reach up to 3 feet tall. Being quite common across North America, as well as Texas, the bald faced hornets are heavily populated in the southeastern states. Yellow jackets, as well as soft bodied insects like caterpillars and aphids are included in their diet and they also indulge in meats and harvest nectar and pollen from flowering plants.
Bald Faced Hornet Queen, Workers & Drones
With seemingly larger colonies, bald faced hornets all work together to ensure the colony thrives. With specific tasks to do, there is a queen, workers and drones. When the queen is receptive to fertilization, the ready drone will comply, after which, she will lay hundreds of eggs. To make sure of the survival of the colony, the workers take care of everything from construction of the nest, foraging for food, caring for the young as well as the drones, and queen, among other duties. Being minor pollinators, bald-faced hornets visit various flowers to collect the nectar where the height of their activity is late summer.
Do Bald Faced Hornets have Stingers?
Where bees sting you once, lose their stinger and die, bald faced hornets sting repeatedly since they do not lose their stinger. Being that their primary goal is to protect the nest, they will attack until satisfied there is no longer a threat whenever they feel the colony is in danger. Also, only females have stingers, and some will patrol their territory close to the nest. Anything they feel is a risk to the colony will be stung unmercifully. Their smooth stinger not only pierces the skin that results in pain, but they also inject a venomous fluid. In addition to the pain felt for the initial sting, many people can experience varying degrees of allergic reactions.
Should I Remove a Bald-Faced Hornet Nest?
In the spring, the surviving fertile female will emerge to develop a new colony where she will begin by gathering the wooden fibers, usually from houses, fencing, branches, and plants. A few of the areas the nests are built include the eaves or other points of a structure, as well as suspended and hangs off of tree limbs. By the end of the season, they are about the size of a basketball. To build the build layers with paper-like cells, which makes the interior resemble honeycombs, they use chewed wooden fibers mixed with their saliva for construction.
Stinging Insect Pest Inspections, Treatment, Control, Removal & More in Austin, Round Rock, Leander, Pflugerville & Cedar Park Texas
Should you discover bald faced hornets around your property, allow the experts at A-Tex Pest Management to take care of it to help you avoid injury and ensure effective results. Call A-Tex Pest Management to remove the bald faced hornets.
