Native looks more yellow but very similar. Seems the German ones can use the ground also though not preferred.
Lantern fly hatch in central PA is back
- Thread starter krayfish2
- Start date
pcray1231
Well-known member
V. Pensylvanica is the western yellowjacket, not the eastern (despite the unfortunate latin name they are nowhere near Pennsylvania). We don't have those here. V. Maculifrons is the eastern yellow jacket we know historically, and it has more black in it. We are also on the northern edge of the southern yellowjacket, V. Squamosa.
In general, our native yellow jackets have a little more black and the german ones a little more yellow, but, as with any insect variation exists and it's hard to go by a small color difference. The easiest way to tell them apart is mainly where the hives are. If it's in the ground, it's PROBABLY an eastern yellow jacket. If it's in a structure or elevated, it's the German variety.
But, for the sake of having it, googled pics.
Eastern Yellow Jacket worker (V. Maculifrons)
German Yellow Jacket worker (V. Germanica)
In general, our native yellow jackets have a little more black and the german ones a little more yellow, but, as with any insect variation exists and it's hard to go by a small color difference. The easiest way to tell them apart is mainly where the hives are. If it's in the ground, it's PROBABLY an eastern yellow jacket. If it's in a structure or elevated, it's the German variety.
But, for the sake of having it, googled pics.
Eastern Yellow Jacket worker (V. Maculifrons)
German Yellow Jacket worker (V. Germanica)
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pcray1231
Well-known member
I guess it was about 9 years ago now. Prior to divorce, I had a single family house in a subdivision and a newborn baby. I had a large nest of the german yellowjackets take up residence in the attic. The entrance was a dormer, and the nest was escavating the ceiling, almost breaking through into the house, just above the crib!!! You could see the top paper layer was about all that was left of the drywall on the ceiling. And it looked wet and moved! You could hear them buzzing around in the evening.
The attic was inaccessible in that house, no way up. Sealed.
I got a big sheet of plastic (one of those office chair floor things) and duct taped it over to keep them out of the baby's room. If they broke through the drywall they weren't getting through the plastic. And I went at the opening with RAID to no avail, then ultimately called an exterminator. Exterminator sealed the room (vents, door clearances, etc), donned the bee suit, took down my plastic thing, and punched right through my ceiling, grabbed the nest, put it in a garbage bag, tied the bag good and tight, and tossed it out the window. Dusted the area with poison and left me to patch the drywall after a few days.
That's when I did the whole "I thought yellow jackets nested in the ground" bit, and he explained of the german invaders, showed me color differences on a dead one, etc. I started reading up on this stuff a little.
My solution to yellow jacket nests was always wait till night when they're in, pour gasoline down hole and light it, lol. But when they're in an inaccessible attic, I was at a loss!!!
The attic was inaccessible in that house, no way up. Sealed.
I got a big sheet of plastic (one of those office chair floor things) and duct taped it over to keep them out of the baby's room. If they broke through the drywall they weren't getting through the plastic. And I went at the opening with RAID to no avail, then ultimately called an exterminator. Exterminator sealed the room (vents, door clearances, etc), donned the bee suit, took down my plastic thing, and punched right through my ceiling, grabbed the nest, put it in a garbage bag, tied the bag good and tight, and tossed it out the window. Dusted the area with poison and left me to patch the drywall after a few days.
That's when I did the whole "I thought yellow jackets nested in the ground" bit, and he explained of the german invaders, showed me color differences on a dead one, etc. I started reading up on this stuff a little.
My solution to yellow jacket nests was always wait till night when they're in, pour gasoline down hole and light it, lol. But when they're in an inaccessible attic, I was at a loss!!!
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Oh, I already know how it would end.... urgent care 🤣🤣. Someone at our office already had a run in with it. They got hit full force, try to escape but fell. When they rolled their ankle, hit the ground hard getting all cut up and breaking about five bones in their hand what you're going to need to be surgically repaired! Not a good day or idea for sure. Simply getting near it and screaming will get a reaction from the white-faced hornets that you won't be fond of.
wildtrout2
Well-known member
One notable thing regarding white-faced hornets, once you have the misfortune of disturbing them, they WILL chase you down. I mean you're running away, and they're right behind you, if not already stinging you. They play hard ball.
Swattie87
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I’ve been stung relatively recently by all three of the most common PA wasp species.
The Yellow Jacket was by far the worst. Reasonably intense pain for an hour or so, followed by 2 or 3 days of a duller, but still quite noticeable throbbing pain at the sting sites. The darn things bruised! Followed by an additional week to 10 days of welts and ongoing itching. Was mowing at camp and didn’t notice and ran over a ground nest. Got hit 3 or 4 times on the hands before I realized what was going on. I evened the score later the evening however.
The Bald Faced Hornet hurt for like 10 minutes and swelled up pretty good for like an hour. Then was done. Got hit twice recently by these guys. Both rogue attacks from single wasps. Never found a nest nearby.
The Paper Wasp was nothing. Got stung stepping on a rotting railroad tie on a tee box on a golf course. Was fine by the tee on the next hole.
Bald Faced’s get a bad reputation because of their larger size and impressive nests, but Yellow Jackets are far worse IMO.
Pat - Is the European YJ sting far worse than the native PA one? Maybe I ran into those? Though this nest was in the ground.
The Yellow Jacket was by far the worst. Reasonably intense pain for an hour or so, followed by 2 or 3 days of a duller, but still quite noticeable throbbing pain at the sting sites. The darn things bruised! Followed by an additional week to 10 days of welts and ongoing itching. Was mowing at camp and didn’t notice and ran over a ground nest. Got hit 3 or 4 times on the hands before I realized what was going on. I evened the score later the evening however.
The Bald Faced Hornet hurt for like 10 minutes and swelled up pretty good for like an hour. Then was done. Got hit twice recently by these guys. Both rogue attacks from single wasps. Never found a nest nearby.
The Paper Wasp was nothing. Got stung stepping on a rotting railroad tie on a tee box on a golf course. Was fine by the tee on the next hole.
Bald Faced’s get a bad reputation because of their larger size and impressive nests, but Yellow Jackets are far worse IMO.
Pat - Is the European YJ sting far worse than the native PA one? Maybe I ran into those? Though this nest was in the ground.
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mtelesha
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I have thrown SLF into the water where I knew there were trout. I have seen a trout eat one. At work I throw in about 10 SLF a day into the blue gill pond and only like 1 in 10 actually gets eaten. The fish run up and then refuse them. I would love for this to change.
pcray1231
Well-known member
I have no idea if the German YJ sting is worse than a regular YJ. They are supposedly more aggressive and form bigger nests. But that doesn't make each sting worse.
If the nest was in the ground, most likely it was a regular YJ.
If the nest was in the ground, most likely it was a regular YJ.
6xAdams(Jones)
Well-known member
When we dropped off our boy at college a few weeks ago, we noticed SLFs flying around on the west side of the Susquehanna. The invasion won't be checked until birds, fish, possums, racoons, etc. learn to eat them. That will be a welcome eventuality, similar to how other invasive situations have turned out. Now that they're here, we'll never be totally rid of them.
mtelesha
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Oh they are in Michigan and NYC. They are way past West Bank of the Sus.
Drifly
Member
I was camping down below York a month or so ago the place was infested with slf’s. Today I was in Hershey and there were a bunch of adults coming out of the trees. Annoying bugs….
dc410
Well-known member
Interesting to hear about the yellow jackets feeding on the SLF. However, it really makes perfect sense. As the SLF develops as a nymph they feed on the sap of trees and plants. After they turn into adults their excrement from all the sticky sap that was eaten during the nymphal stages is what causes all of the damage/inconvenience all over fruit crops, backyard landscapes, deck furniture and playground equipment, etc. The excrement is sticky and quickly forms a layer of black mildew over it. It makes sense that the yellow jackets would tap into the SLF to get to sap that they have fed on for months much like the yellow jackets love a good piece of rotting fruit in the late summer/early fall.
Centre County is the most central county in PA.
The spotted lantern flies have not shown up yet in Centre County.
They probably will eventually, but they haven't so far.
mt_flyfisher
Well-known member
Here in Lancaster County I have 2 small maple trees in my front yard that have had a lot of adult Lantern flies on them the past couple weeks. I put sticky fly paper around the base of these trees about 3-4 feet from the ground, which gets some of the lantern flies, and I also go out once or twice a day to swat and kill the flies that I can reach from the ground.
This year and last I‘ve also seen a number of yellow jackets flying around the trees near the ground which I believe are feeding on the dead, or nearly dead, lantern flies that I’ve killed. A few days ago when I looked up into one of the maple trees (the foliage on the trees is pretty dense) I saw what may be a yellow jacket nest.
There are yellow jackets (or some type of hornet, bee, etc) frequently flying into and out of the nest. I tried to get a picture of the insects so that I could identify what they are, but they‘re going in and out so fast, and the foliage is so thick that it’s hard to tell what they are for sure.
I‘d like to be able to remove the nest from the tree when it’s safe to do so. I’m thinking of waiting until winter to do that. And I want to leave it where it is for the time being if it is yellow jackets that are eating the lantern flies. What do you guys think about removing it?
I see that some of these nests sell on the internet for a relatively lot of money. A large one sold on EBay for $780.00 last month! Maybe I’ll try to sell it!
Here is what that nest looks like (it is perhaps 12” high x 10” diameter).
This year and last I‘ve also seen a number of yellow jackets flying around the trees near the ground which I believe are feeding on the dead, or nearly dead, lantern flies that I’ve killed. A few days ago when I looked up into one of the maple trees (the foliage on the trees is pretty dense) I saw what may be a yellow jacket nest.
There are yellow jackets (or some type of hornet, bee, etc) frequently flying into and out of the nest. I tried to get a picture of the insects so that I could identify what they are, but they‘re going in and out so fast, and the foliage is so thick that it’s hard to tell what they are for sure.
I‘d like to be able to remove the nest from the tree when it’s safe to do so. I’m thinking of waiting until winter to do that. And I want to leave it where it is for the time being if it is yellow jackets that are eating the lantern flies. What do you guys think about removing it?
I see that some of these nests sell on the internet for a relatively lot of money. A large one sold on EBay for $780.00 last month! Maybe I’ll try to sell it!
Here is what that nest looks like (it is perhaps 12” high x 10” diameter).
JeffP
Well-known member
I have had one of those last year and again this year. They are huge and seem to come out of nowhere. One was on a ***** willow and the other on a rhododendron.
wildtrout2
Well-known member
Looks like a hornets nest. Whack it with something and you'll be able to identify what's living in it. 😛
mt_flyfisher
Well-known member
Can you lend me a hand?
pcray1231
Well-known member
Yeah, that looks like a hornets nest.
Our traditional yellow jacket nests in the ground. Down holes. The german yellow jackets nest either in the ground or in void spaces, like walls and attics, but in covered places and the nests are randomly shaped.
Our bald faced hornets make a consistent oblong basketball shaped nest in trees, hanging from a branch 10-15 feet off the ground, with the opening at the bottom.
Our traditional yellow jacket nests in the ground. Down holes. The german yellow jackets nest either in the ground or in void spaces, like walls and attics, but in covered places and the nests are randomly shaped.
Our bald faced hornets make a consistent oblong basketball shaped nest in trees, hanging from a branch 10-15 feet off the ground, with the opening at the bottom.
mt_flyfisher
Well-known member
I just spent more time looking at that nest, and was able to get a better look at some of those critters flying into and out of the nest. I’m pretty sure you’re right and that they are bald-faced hornets. They are quite dark colored, almost black, with what looks like white, or off white bands or markings. (I’m not about to get nearer for a close up inspection.). The nest is probably close to 10’ off the ground.
What I see hovering close to the ground, around the dead lantern flies I’ve dispatched, are probably yellow jackets, and appear to be smaller than the hornets, with clear yellow bands.
Thanks!
That's what we had removed from our office last week. It was the size of a small turkey. They are extremely aggressive and attack relentlessly. Do not f with them. If you decide that you do want to mess with them, let me know so I can film it and then run you to the urgent Care
