There are many different types of stinging insects, and perhaps none are as feared or as aggressive as wasps and hornets. Unlike bees, these insects have the ability to sting multiple times without dying, and are known to be far more aggressive than honey bees and bumblebees.

What Are Wasps?

Wasps are not related to bees, but they do come from within the same suborder of bees and ants (Apocrita). Wasps have two pairs of wings, fewer hairs than bees, and only the females have stingers. There are hundreds of thousands of different wasp species and have thinner bodies than most bees.

What Are Hornets?

Hornets are actually a type of wasp, so by technical definition there is no difference between hornets and wasps. However, when most people think of wasps they think of either yellow jackets or the long, black wasps that appear to fly solo. Hornets tend to look similar to yellow jackets, but hornets are less aggressive because they tend to only feed on other insects, while yellow jackets sometimes become interested in human food and fly indoors.

However, hornets – like all wasps – do become very aggressive when their nests are threatened, so for safety it is always a good idea to contact a pest control company if you are concerned about a nest in or around your home.

Which Stings Are More Painful?

According to the Schmidt Sting Pain Index, bald faced hornets and yellow jackets have the least painful sting – at least when compared to other types of wasps – however, wasps can sting multiple times so the pain can be increased exponentially depending on the number of stings you receive.

The tarantula hawk – a type of wasp – is believed to have the most painful sting in the wasp family. Since wasps are predators, the tarantula hawk is, as the name implies, a predator of the tarantula, which requires a stronger venom to bring down. The paper wasp is also considered to be more painful than yellow jackets and some hornets, but less painful than the tarantula hawk.

Regardless, these insects can be a tremendous hassle, which is why if you are concerned for your safety it is a good idea to contact Connor’s Pest Protection immediately.

This entry was posted on Friday, September 2nd, 2011 at 3:13 pm and is filed under Uncategorized . You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.