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Hornets and yellow jackets are easy to find in some areas. The simple act of feasting on watermelon on a hot summer day has the amazing effect of almost instantly attracting these busy little insects. In most cases when hornets or yellow jackets join any type of picnic their dive bombing tactics will quickly drive any sane human away, leaving the them to feast alone. A yellow jacket or hornet thinks nothing of lighting on a juicy piece of fruit being eaten by a human. The moment you attempt to scare them away they will angrily buzz around you attracting others of their kind before attacking. Both the hornet and the yellow jacket are found in the Vespidae family of insects from the Hymenoptera order. Their common names refer to many different species of this family, which are known for their yellow markings, as well as, their nest building habits.
In most cases both the hornet and yellow jacket are considered to be a kind of social wasp. While the hornet customarily build its oval shaped papery looking nest around bushes and trees, the yellow jackets nest is usually found either on the ground or just below the surface. The hornet is rarely much larger than one and a half inches in length, while the yellow jacket is similar in size to the larger housefly species. As the name implies, the yellow jacket will have a black body with yellow markings. In most species the hornets’ body is reddish brown with yellow markings. Both are extremely aggressive insects that are capable of inflicting a painful sting when annoyed. With both yellow jackets and hornets the adults become active in the later part of spring and as mid-summer approaches the populations appears to have grown extensively. Both insects feed mainly on orchard type fruits and other liquids that are sweet but prey on such insects as flies and caterpillars. These will be taken back to their nest to feed their young.
The hornet and yellow jacket build their nest from bits of bark and paper that is chewed and formed into small pods for their young. The first of each species to appear each spring are the queens who are already fertile. Each queen will begin building the nest to lay her eggs. When the first eggs hatch they are mainly fertile females or workers who will continue building the nest and feeding the young hatched from the queens newly laid eggs. During the final weeks before fall the queen will produce both males and females that will mate. These females will hibernate for the winter to return in the spring as queens. Once the final brood has hatched and the fertilized females leave for the winter, the remaining hornets or yellow jackets will desert the nest.
In most cases, both hornets and yellow jackets are most prone to sting during the final weeks of summer or early weeks of fall. Many times an unsuspecting person will disturb an under ground yellow jacket nest while walking or mowing. When this occurs, many of the insects will fly out of the nest to attack the intruder. By the late part of summer many yellow jacket nest will have thousands of these aggressive insects inhibiting the space. If a person is allergic to the yellow jackets venom, even a single sting can cause problems. Multiple stings by these insects are always considered serious and should be treated by a physician. The best way to rid an area of hornets or yellow jackets is to find the nest and destroy it or have an exterminator destroy it. If you decide to do the work yourself, always take precautions that will protect you from the stings.
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