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    Wasps

    Violet
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    Post  Violet Tue Sep 20, 2011 1:38 pm

    I saw something quite horrific the other day but at the same time fascinating, I saw a wasp attack a hoverfly, there was mad buzzing, much wrestling and then finally the wasp severed the hoverfly's head (and left it in the flower trumpet with a wing) and flew away with it's 'kill' I do have photos if anyone is interested? I didn't know wasps actually attacked other bugs like that though I know they will eat bug carcasses.



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    mac
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    Post  mac Wed Oct 19, 2011 11:44 am

    Violet wrote:I saw something quite horrific the other day but at the same time fascinating, I saw a wasp attack a hoverfly, there was mad buzzing, much wrestling and then finally the wasp severed the hoverfly's head (and left it in the flower trumpet with a wing) and flew away with it's 'kill' I do have photos if anyone is interested? I didn't know wasps actually attacked other bugs like that though I know they will eat bug carcasses.

    Just after I lost my regular job around 20 years back we went to a caravan rally near Alton Towers. I pitched the caravan in a field where there were wasps everywhere. The wasps were attacking, killing and eating crane fly they were finding on the grass - what some folk call Daddy Long Legs. I ignored them in the mistaken belief they'd ignore us. Before long I saw a wasp land on my thumb and before I could react it stung me - so much for my supposition about wasps! The wasps were in a general killfest frenzy and our young daughter also got a glancing sting before I managed to knock a wasp off of her neck. At that we shut up shop, stamped on every wasp we could see in our awning, zipped it up tightly and retreated to the safety of our caravan for the rest of our visit. A shame as the weather was glorious and would have been ideal for being outdoors.

    We had nothing to treat the sting with and my thumb swelled up, was hot and throbbed for the several days we were camped there - constant throbbing and pain. I didn't know either, Violet, that they attacked as they do - they were systematically attacking the crane fly and there were countless numbers involved.

    Then last summer on our travels my wife was stung 15 times by a mix of small, so-called Africanised Bees plus a few wasps. We were hiking and unaware of their presence save for the low hum of insects on nearby shrubs and we did nothing to antagonise them - it was just territorial aggression.

    They were amazingly aggressive and after retreating, and after I removed the stingers and poison sacks, we had no choice but to use the same path to return to the truck. They attacked again but this time I got stung as we'd covered up using every stitch of clothing we had with rain ponchos on top. Just my one sting was agony and I feared my wife might later go into shock with all she'd had.

    It was a near thing but she weathered it with ice to reduce swelling, pain-killers plus antihistamine tablets and cream. It's said that this hybrid bee strain is likely eventually to reach the UK.
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    Post  SpiritVoices Wed Oct 19, 2011 12:44 pm

    That is awful,Mac.

    I'm sorry to hear that.

    To be closeted up in a caravan no matter how big it is,can be very claustrophic.

    Yes,I saw the news in the paper a while back to be cautious of an onslaught of bees. Wasn't sure what kind they were.

    I hate the things!

    My grandmother was once stung many years ago. It gave her an absolute terror of bees. Windows were never opened in the house after that.

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    Deepwaters
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    Post  Deepwaters Wed Oct 19, 2011 1:59 pm

    I am shocked by your story, mac, and you tell it so vividly.
    I always thought bees and wasps were harmless unless antagonized and that they only stung as a defense mechanism if provoked (such as swatting at them or waving arms about).
    1antique
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    Post  1antique Wed Oct 19, 2011 4:40 pm

    Bees and wasps, when attacked/hurt, put off a pheremone that warns of of danger. This put the entire hive on attack mode. They can/will attack anything that moves. As more of them sting it leads to more and more of a frenzy. This problem is especially bad with the Africanized Honey Bees, which are known to attack by the thousands and sting anything to death that is unfortunate enough to be near. There has numerous reports of these bees killing people.
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    Post  mac Wed Oct 19, 2011 7:30 pm

    Deepwaters wrote:I am shocked by your story, mac, and you tell it so vividly.
    I always thought bees and wasps were harmless unless antagonized and that they only stung as a defense mechanism if provoked (such as swatting at them or waving arms about).

    It's probably vividly told because the memory of my wife's stings are still vivid in my mind - and I'm not usually one for remembering much at all. I had always believed just what you do - don't have a go at 'em and you'll be OK. Not so as I learned from a pamphlet we were brought by friends who'd visited a resort somewhere in the vast Tonto National Forest.

    In that it warned about the hybridised bees (very small actually) and how territorially aggressive they are. Often hiking trails get closed because of the risks. We're now left with the uncertainty (until she's stung again) about sensitisation to their venom. Even though I removed all the venom sacs intact, the initial sting still injects some venom into a victim and that can induce extreme sensitivity to further exposure.

    Researching online, 15 stings was suggested as the point where a visit to ER is recommended with the subsequent risk that further stings could induce anaphylactic shock. In the US carrying an epi pen (adrenaline) is routinely advised in such situations (as for peanut allergy) but over here in the UK we still have to find out if the doc will prescribe one.....

    When I contacted the local Forestry Authority near Silver City, New Mexico at the time no-one was in the least interested in erecting a warning sign. I'd left a hand-written one at the trailhead but I was dismayed that an official one wouldn't be considered.
    Violet
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    Post  Violet Sun Oct 23, 2011 12:39 am

    Wow Mac that is really horrible, wasp stings are incredibly painful and can be dangerous. You must worry everytime you see wasps now?

    I wonder what made them attack the crane flies.



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    Post  mac Sun Oct 23, 2011 7:10 am

    Violet wrote:Wow Mac that is really horrible, wasp stings are incredibly painful and can be dangerous. You must worry everytime you see wasps now?

    I wonder what made them attack the crane flies.

    I don't worry any more than I used to but I do know now that they can't simply be ignored...

    It appeared that the wasps were deliberately hunting the crane fly, presumably to 'eat' them or sip their juices. A feeding frenzy?
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    Post  SpiritVoices Sun Oct 23, 2011 3:55 pm

    Would it be the heat,Mac that drives them to be so much more dangerous?
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    Post  mac Sun Oct 23, 2011 4:45 pm

    Joanie wrote:Would it be the heat,Mac that drives them to be so much more dangerous?

    That I don't know, Joanie.... I can only say what I observed and experienced.
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    Post  SpiritVoices Sun Oct 23, 2011 6:56 pm

    Ok Mac,thanks.

    Was wondering if there was a 'queen bee' around.

    Not sure if bees are protective of the queen bee,but I do know they hover around the hive where she resides.

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    Post  mac Sun Oct 23, 2011 7:35 pm

    Joanie wrote:Ok Mac,thanks.

    Was wondering if there was a 'queen bee' around.

    Not sure if bees are protective of the queen bee,but I do know they hover around the hive where she resides.

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    I've no idea if wasps behave like bees but it wasn't a localised concentration. We were in a field of many acres and the wasps were to be seen everywhere, all hunting crane fly in the same way. I've never experienced anything like it before and never since I'm pleased to be able to say.

    As you're already aware, though, around my home town we have a major cockchafer grub infestation of our lawns and although they don't sting, the grass is looking very sorry indeed.

    I've been told such infestation cycles last several years so my bit of grass looks like continuing fo some time to be the mess it is right now... Wasps 160943
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    Post  SpiritVoices Sun Oct 23, 2011 7:51 pm

    I'm not bad at gardening so suggest you let your lawn go for this summer.

    Keep it short then next year looks like a new reseeding of new lawn.

    Start off from scratch again.

    But get rid of that cock-shafer bug first.

    (or take the short cut and buy the new lawn like we buy carpets.......measure up first.......Wasps 809779 )
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    Post  mac Sun Oct 23, 2011 8:05 pm

    Joanie wrote:I'm not bad at gardening so suggest you let your lawn go for this summer.

    Keep it short then next year looks like a new reseeding of new lawn.

    Start off from scratch again.

    But get rid of that cock-shafer bug first.

    (or take the short cut and buy the new lawn like we buy carpets.......measure up first.......Wasps 809779 )

    I'd do either if I could be sure that there wouldn't be subsequent infestations. As with dandelions where you can kill your own but seeds from nearby plants will land and germinate again. To be effective it might be that only waiting until the infestations have peaked and begun to decline will offer a chance of successful growing of a new lawn....

    On another tack, synthetic turf wouldn't have the cockchafer problem. We stayed at a dude-ranch in Colorado where the owner had laid synthetic turf around his cabins and restaurants (we maintained the garden) and had prepared the first few holes of what was intended to become an 18 hole course going right into the forest he was in the process of landscaping! Sadly economic times didn't favour that venture and on a later visit we learned that the course didn't get completed.

    I still have a 2m x 1m section of that grass that I lay each year on our trailer's patio space as a memento of our enjoyable stay there. Wasps 28115

    I'm wandering off-topic ain't I! Wasps 451437
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    Post  SpiritVoices Sun Oct 23, 2011 9:27 pm

    We both are,Mac. Wasps 160943

    Anyway,good luck with the lawn.

    Keep my fingers crossed for you.



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