European and English Wasps

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Male European Wasp (Vespula germanica). Scale bar = 5 mm.

Please Note: If you require European/English wasp removal please contact a registered pest controller.

Two species of the exotic wasp genus Vespula occur in Tasmania. The European or German Wasp Vespula germanica (F.), was first found in a Hobart suburb in 1959 and has since spread to all parts of the State. English or Common Wasp, Vespula vulgaris, is a relative newcomer to the state, it is believed to have arrived around 1995. Both species are also present on the mainland.

European Wasp and English Wasp appear extremely similar and are difficult to tell apart, currently the former species is more common and widespread in the state. Both species have similar life cycles and behaviour. Vespid wasps are the most troublesome outdoor insect pest found around homes, in gardens, fruit orchards and especially where sweet foods, fruits or liquids are present. With their yellow and black stripes they are familiar to most Tasmanians.

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Male Flower Wasp (Thynnus zonatus). Scale bar = 5 mm.

European or English Wasps are sometimes confused with a native species Thynnus zonatus, or Flower Wasp. This species is found in coastal areas in Tasmania. It is longer and more slender than the vespid wasps and only the males are winged. These wasps do sting but are not attracted to meat like the introduced wasps and are a solitary species that do not form nests. Flower Wasps are not regarded as pests as they do not interfere with outdoor eating or attack fruit like the introduced wasps.

Vespid wasps are swift, strong fliers and are likely,  to become aggressive when interfered with. When wasps are close by, you should avoid sharp movements because these will attract their attention and may excite them so that they sting. They can inflict a severe sting. Unlike a bee, each wasp can sting repeatedly.

Life Cycle

Wasps live in nests where adults rear the young. New nests are begun by young queens, which leave the old nest in autumn, seek a warm protected place to spend the winter and begin making the new nest in spring. The young queen constructs a few cells of a grey papery material. The cells are attached to the roof of the cavity or space selected for the nest and one egg is laid in each. The queen tends the first brood of grubs through to maturity, but thereafter the workers take over the gathering of food and the rearing of grubs, leaving the queen to lay eggs.

The grubs are fed on insect and animal matter obtained by the workers. In this regard the wasps may be beneficial since they prey on many harmful insects, including flies and caterpillars. However their predatory activity, when intense, has been shown to severely diminish native insect fauna in some areas and has a detrimental effect on biodiversity.

Towards the end of summer the colony reaches its full size, and the workers forage for sweet materials much more than previously. Their search for protein-based foods also intensifies and often switches from insects to meat scraps, to feed the rapidly increasing number of grubs. Wasps become more aggressive as numbers increase and are most troublesome during autumn.

Mating flights occur on fine, warm days in the autumn, after which the new queens seek over-wintering sites. The colony then declines and usually perishes, although in Tasmania some nests are maintained throughout the winter and are further enlarged in the following season.

Environmental Impacts

Wasps attack a wide range of damaged, ripe fruit. In general they are unable to damage sound fruit and thus are rarely a problem in clean, commercial apple orchards. Sometimes the wasps will damage ripe grapes directly by entering the fruit where it joins the stalk. Thin-skinned fruits such as raspberries, peaches and apricots may also be attacked when they are ripe and particularly when they are overripe.