I've been dealing with a strange wasp infestation this past week (I believe there was a nest inside a wall that the handyman disturbed) and I've been finding multiple of these guys inside my home from time to time.

They're acting a bit confused, clinging to windows, stopping to groom themselves for a prolonged period before buzzing around, and generally kind of clumsy? I don't know how to explain but they're somewhat docile but also erratic.

Is this a regular wasp? I was reading that perhaps the males are hairier and don't sting?

Hi Reddit,

I was bringing in the trash cans the other night, and I had my flashlight out. We have a little open-air alcove/covered-structure where we put our cans. I was about to put the cans in when I saw on our little white grate a very large, angry looking group of wasps giving me the death-stare. Needless to say, I cheesed it tf out of there, and came back the next night with spray and blasted them. There were a TON of these guys!

I checked on it this morning, and I could not find a nest anywhere. I didn’t see any other remnants or survivors. I may need to sift through the leafy debris a bit more, but there was no big obvious wasp next like I usually see. For this many, I would have expected a larger base.

1: Are these standard paper wasps, or do they look like yellow jackets?

2: Do wasps (maybe end of season?) just decide to conglomerate in a location without a nest for some reason?

3: Do you think they might’ve hollowed out the horizontal 2x4 or w/e that ‘braces’ the vertical posts (picture 4 where I am pointing, and picture 1 with the three dead ones on the slat).

Any advice is appreciated!

EDIT: We are in central TX, if that helps!

I'm not really looking for identification, I just needed to post somewhere I was visited by a wasp queen. Largest yellow jacket I've seen, and it scared the crap out of me until I learned she is docile around this time of year and was likely trying to get out of the cold? (But PLEASE let me know if I should be concerned about worker wasps.) I have no idea how she got in my apartment, but I'm thinking she got in through my AC unit.

I captured her in a cup and placed her outside.

I feel kind of lucky it was a queen. 👑

Saw this thing in my basement with what looks like another bug coming out of the wasp's ass. What. the fuck is going on

Video I took on Aug 22, 2024. Location: Northern Virginia. Is this a cicada killer or a hornet?

I've had a nest of polistes annularis in my balcony potting shed for the last 4 years. It's face height but I've never had any issues with them. Every winter when the nest is dormant, I knock it down so the following year they can't build off of it and will have to start over (since I'm in an apartment complex and don't want like 200 wasps causing problems for neighbors).

I'm moving out this coming spring and I know the renovation crew that comes in will spray the nest and any wasps they see. I don't want any of them to get sprayed.

Could I just try to block off the entire area so they can't get in and start rebuilding? Will they give up and move elsewhere or will they just keep trying to get in until they've all been killed? Can they even move to a new location or is losing their nesting site just a death sentence to this lineage?

Ive been making a big sculpture (posable) of a vespa tropica, and im having trouble with the abdomen (the sclerites, tergites and sternites etc. It's mainly the engineering of the telescopic mechanism that's the problem, and I've resorted to medical records, mri scans, 3d models and more..so I was wondering if anyone could help me with finding any records with images or even 3d scans of each segment if its possible?

My six-day-old sting suddenly woke me up last night due to extreme itching. There are hives all around it now. The whole thing is probably like 4-5 inches in diameter. Is this normal? Should I be concerned?

At first I thought the queen and its subjects were spiking out of the nest for whatever reason. Then, just as I let them out, I realized the larger one was red/orange. It did not look like a paper wasp. I’m just assuming a red hornet was trying to get to the yellow jacket nest.

Sorry about the picture quality.

It’s the size of a small child. MawMaw found it while picking muscadines off the vine that grew in the azalea bush last month. Made dang sure nobody was home before removing it. It’s beautiful. Gonna hang it in my little art room.

It appears to be a paper wasp, I've set up a jar of apple slices and water for it and will take it outside when I find it

Found her on the seat of the work truck when I went to put it back in the garage.

I am petrified at the thought that this might be a scary insect nest. What do you think??😳😳

I keep finding these on my bathroom sink and kitchen window. Any help with an id would be appreciated!

2 of these guys have decided to make the apartment their home, being afraid of wasps from previous encounters I just want them to leave, what should I do? EDIT: Trapped them and got them out safely, thanks for the help!

Three days ago I was walking at a creek trail near my house and got stung on my leg by what I'm pretty sure was a yellowjacket (didn't get a good look). Then today I was finally brave enough to walk there again and got stung again on my leg about five inches away from the first sting. I was stung while walking in the same general area, so I figure there's a nest around there, and they're getting cranky cause it's fall, but is that the only reason why I got stung again? It's so near the first sting. And I've been walking at that trail practically every day for like a decade and I'd never been stung there until now.

Sorry I don’t have any clearer images, it’s high on the ceiling and I don’t want to get closer in case it attacks me 😭

It doesn’t appear to have any coloring except maybe on its legs? It’s in my house 😭😭

Sorry ETA: Michigan, and I’m not usually near wasps so I can’t compare very well but maybe medium sized? It hasn’t really done anything but fly around a little and stay on the ceiling but idk how long it’s been there before I found it