Baldfaced Hornets
The baldfaced hornet is a member of the yellowjacket family. They are aggressive and will attack anything (or anyone) that invades their space. They can sting repeatedly and their sting is very painful.
The European wasp, commonly known as the German wasp, is one of Australia's most common and aggressive wasps. They are medium-sized wasps, measuring around 12-20 mm in length, with bright yellow and black stripes on their abdomen.
The zombifier
The infamous emerald jewel wasp turns its prey, the American cockroach, into a brainless zombie. The prey is several times larger than the wasp, so it cannot drag the victim to its nesting burrow.
The northern giant hornet (Vespa mandarinia), is the world's largest hornet, measuring up to 2 inches long.
Commonly known as warrior wasps or drumming wasps, they are known for their aggressive behavior, a threat display consisting of multiple insects guarding a nest beating their wings in a synchronized fashion, and an extremely painful sting.
A sting of a hornet hurts more than a sting of a bee or a wasp. This statement is probably true to anyone who has ever been stung by these insects.
Megalara garuda, colloquially referred to as the "King of Wasps", is a large wasp and the only species in the genus Megalara, family Crabronidae, tribe Larrini. The species M. garuda is only known from the Mekongga Mountains in the southeastern part of the Indonesian island of Sulawesi.
The jewel wasp goes by many names, including emerald wasp, emerald cockroach wasp and zombie wasp. That last name is apt because the jewel wasp turns its cockroach victims into virtual zombies before using their bodies to reproduce. A female jewel wasp will mate only once in a lifetime.
Distribution. Worldwide distribution of tarantula hawks includes areas from India to Southeast Asia, Africa, Europe, Australia, and the Americas, with the genus Pepsis entirely restricted to the New World.
Benefits. Australian spider wasps are beneficial to the environment as they control spider and aphid populations and other pest insects. They are also pollinators of native plants.
Other species of birds seem to enjoy eating wasps and purposely hunt them. These include blackbirds, starlings and magpies. Many species of bats are also insectivores and will create a colony on your property if there is a wasp nest present.
Asian giant hornets are not present in Australia. If you suspect you have found a Asian giant hornet, you must report it: Call the Exotic Plant Pest hotline on 1800 084 881, Submit an online form, OR.
Danger to humans
Paper wasps can deliver painful stings, but are not as aggressive as European Wasps. They normally only attack humans if their nest is disturbed.
Cuckoo wasps from a number of different species are found all over Australia, with Stilbum cyanurum (the one pictured above) being the largest and arguably the most beautiful.
Mud dauber wasps are found throughout North America. They are known as the least aggressive wasp. Though they may look intimidating, mud dauber wasps are harmless and great for spider control.
Microgaster godzilla is a species of aquatic parasitoid wasp from Japan. Its host is the caterpillar Elophila turbata. The wasp is named after Godzilla (1954 film).
Can wasps sting you if they are dead? Yes — the venom sac at the end of a wasp sting keeps pulsing for a short period after a wasp dies, so if you come in contact with the sting you may still be injected with venom.
Why do people hate wasps? They can sting, but 97% of wasps don't. A sting hurts but you can do things to avoid being stung.
Wasp Predators: Insects
Insects like dragonflies, beetles, and centipedes eat wasps. Many wasps fall into the hands of predators like dragonflies, centipedes, hoverflies, beetles, spiders, moths, praying mantis, and robber flies. Spiders have special techniques for hunting wasps.
The queen is usually the largest wasp in the nest. She is generally quite bigger than the female workers and males. The queen's life purpose is to lay eggs and grow the colony.
Hornets (right) are larger. Wasps have black and yellow rings, while hornets have black and white rings. Bees are beneficial to humans because they pollinate plants, whereas wasps and hornets help out by eating other insects. However, all three can be hazardous.
Though Australian Paper wasps are not as outwardly aggressive as European wasps, they will likely swarm and sting any threats to their nest. Their stings can cause symptoms ranging from pain and itching to severe allergic reactions (anaphylaxis).
As if the name weren't intimidating enough, the dementor wasp looks like your regular backyard wasp but with some Halloween-esque black and orange coloring. Like some 174 related species of wasps in the family Ampulicidae, it uses a host incubator—in this case, a cockroach—to gestate its young.
Hornets are not present in Australia.