On Friday 05 November the European Wasp Queen above was found in a home in Camden.

A Pestgo technician was on site carrying out a termite inspection when the homeowner alerted him to the unusual insect and low and behold a European Wasp Queen was found in Camden. European Wasps were once common in Greater Sydney and throughout the Wollondilly however for an unknown reason have not been found locally for over 20 years.

See our previous blog post on European Wasps and follow the links to read about the difficulties these potentially fatal insects can cause to a community.

You can read in this Facebook post what one community in Southern NSW is doing to try and reduce the risk.

Whilst European Wasps are not a notifiable pest here in NSW it is advisable that if you find one you report it to your local council. It is only by community vigilance and support from local governments that we have any chance of living wasp free lives. Unless you have had to live with these creatures in great numbers it is very difficult to understand how they could be such a big issue but they cause misery to many people just trying to do simple things like feed a cat or dog, these wasps will guard that food and sting our pets to keep them from it.

It is not only pet food, but trying to have a BBQ or picnic can become frustrating and dangerous as the wasps hover and try to take any sweet or protein food they can steal. Watch out, it is not only food stuffs but also drinks, particularly sweet ones, make sure to use a straw to drink from cans or bottles, wasps have been known to enter a can or bottle and then a person takes a drink ending up with a nasty sting to the mouth or throat.

We have created a resource which will help you better understand the life cycle and habits of European Wasps.

Introduction to European Wasps

A Paper wasp and its nest, very different to a European Wasp.