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1 week ago
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The warm summer months mean sunny days, family picnics and, inevitably, wasps.
The uninvited guests usually prompt chaos at otherwise wholesome outings.
Now, experts have revealed what you should really do if a wasp gatecrashes your picnic or al-fresco dinner.
And the worst way you can react, they say, is by running away.
Seirian Sumner, a professor of Behavioural Ecology at University College London, warned if you start flapping and shouting, you are behaving like a predator.
'This might trigger the wasp's attack mode,' she wrote on The Conversation.
'Keep your mouth closed and avoid breathing heavily to minimise the release of carbon dioxide, which wasps use as a cue that a predator is attacking.'
But what, then, should we do?
Wasps are a common sight at picnics – but instead of panicking and running away, an expert says you should leave them an 'offering' (stock image)
The wasps that usually visit your picnic are typically the common yellowjacket and the German wasp, she said.
They will be worker wasps, who are always female, and will be looking for food to feed their sibling larvae.
The best way to keep them from bothering you is to provide a 'wasp offering', Professor Sumner explained.
'Is she carving off a lump of ham, gathering a dollop or jam or slurping at your sugary drink?' she said.
'Watch what she is eating because this gives you a clue to what your wasp offering will be.'
Your offering should be a portion of whatever she harvested from your plate, and it can be moved slightly away from the rest of your food.
'If you let her have her share, you too can dine in peace,' Professor Sumner explained.
'You can gradually move your wasp offering further away from you.'
Professor Sumner said watching what the wasps are interested in can provide insight into their colony (stock image)
Keeping an eye on the wasps' feeding habits can also help you work out what is going on inside her colony.
If the wasp wants ham, or some other kind of protein, you know her colony is full of hungry larvae, Dr Sumner said.
This usually occurs around mid-to-late August.
Meanwhile if the wasp is fixated on sugar at the table, such as jam or fizzy drinks, you know her colony is likely to be in its 'twilight' phase of life.
'A lot of us have been taught to fear wasps as aggressive insects that exist only to make our lives a misery,' Professor Sumner said.
'But with unsustainable wildlife loss across the planet, we need to learn to live alongside all organisms – even wasps. They are important pollinators and predators of insects.
'A little knowledge about their natural history can help you dine safely alongside wasps.'
Last month, a pest control expert warned wasps are attacking earlier than normal this year thanks to recent balmy weather.
Usually, the insects are most aggressive in late autumn.
Laurence Edwards, a leading beekeeper and entomologist, said this year's hot spring and summer have created perfect nesting conditions and colonies have 'exploded' in size far earlier than normal.
Mr Edwards called this a 'perfect swarm' of environmental factors.
'It's a perfect swarm and it means that everyone should be on the lookout – both for their own safety and that of other insects, such as bees,' he explained.
The wasp's sting is designed as a self–defence mechanism but, unlike bees, wasps can sting multiple times.
WHY DO WASPS STING AND WHY DO THEY HURT SO MUCH?
Wasp stings are common, especially during the warmer months when people are outside for longer periods of time.
They tend to occur in the later summer months when the social structure of the colony is breaking down.
At this time, the group mindset is changing from raising worker wasps to raising fertile queens, which will hibernate over the winter to start new colonies the following spring.
Once the wasp has laid eggs, she stops producing a specific hormone which keeps the colony organised.
This leads to the wasps becoming confused and disorientated and they tend to stray towards sweet smelling human foods, such as ice cream and jam.
This puts them in the firing line of scared and frenzied people which aggravate the animals with wafting hands and swatting magazines.
When the critters become angry and scared they are prone to stinging.
Wasp stings can be uncomfortable, but most people recover quickly and without complications.
It is designed as a self-defence mechanism but, unlike bees, wasps can sting multiple times.
The stingers remain in tact and are often primed with venom which enters the bloodstream.
Peptides and enzymes in the venom break down cell membranes, spilling cellular contents into the blood stream
This can happen to nerve cells and these are connected to the central nervous system.
This breach causes the injured cell to send signals back to the brain. We experience these signals in the form of pain.
There are chemicals in the wasp sting which slows the flow of blood, which elongates the period of pain.
