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Jack Spaniard Theory

I’ve been stung by the Jack Spaniard wasp more times than I can count. When they are just flying around, they are peaceful, but if you get too close to a nest, they become quite aggressive. Usually it is a nest that I don’t notice until they are stinging me. I have noticed one exception: if there’s only one wasp on the nest, they seem to stay on the nest rather than attacking, even if you are quite close. Has anyone else noticed this? Perhaps keeping one wasp on the nest is ingrained in their instinct. I’ve thought about testing exactly how close you can get to a nest before the last wasp will leave the nest to sting you, but this experiment is not so appealing for obvious reasons. If anyone wants to test it out, let me know!

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5 Responses so far.

  1. cecil. ballah says:

    Recently I have been watching these creature and noticed that they are presistent in their endeavour to build their nest, I would spray the intended location with bop insecticide spray and they would return in one hour or two. They would fly around the location and they appear aggressive. What can you tell me about the black coloured wasp we in trinidad call the ” 7 mile -jep ” or tattoo jep…ever heard of them???

    • admin says:

      I haven’t heard of the 7 mile jep, but I did get stung by a couple Jack Spaniards yesterday. They seem to prefer areas that are protected from rain, so perhaps when they find a good spot for a nest they really want to use it.

  2. Cd says:

    Brilliant! I have noticed that as a warning one or two leave the nest but more remain, One on perimeter enforecent
    got me yesterday and it swell up so bad I can’t feel my ankles

  3. Cd says:

    Enforcement*

  4. Pamela S says:

    Jack Spaniards are very aggressive in protecting their nests and it seems that a few soldiers are always on the look out for intruders. They definitely like to make their nests away from the elements especially under the beams of roofs. They usually like to make their nests on the edges of my porch and sometimes I let them be for a while until they become too aggressive and fly around to protect their nests. I still think they are God’s creatures and have a right to live, so I simply remove their nests with a broom and then run away quickly as not to get bitten. Then I spray the areas where they had the nests. Usually I will place bowls of water for the wild birds like the bullfinch, banana quits, breyers, and doves on the balcony. The Jack Spaniards seem to enjoy a drink from the bowls filled with water, and sometimes they drown if I don’t get to them on time. The birds chirp like crazy because they know the Jack Spaniards are aggressive and will not drink or bathe in the bowl when these wasps around. Jack Spaniards are not very good swimmers, so to get rid of them place bowls of waters around for them. Just today I was cleaning the back of the house and there were some huge nests under the roof. I was wearing a raincoat and while raking, a couple of them came after me and stung me really hard. I was furious so I went back and removed their nests. Not that I like doing that, but I think just like centipedes, scorpions, snakes, rats, mice, cockroaches, the Jack Spaniards should not be around the home making nests. They seem to be very negative creatures and not a good sign of cleanliness.

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