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Ok but you may not like the answer.
These funky lil dudes:
North American Yellowjackets is a common name refering to two genera of Hornets, Vespula and Dolichovespula, and these Neon Flying Babes are THE MOST voracious predators of catepillars, aphids, beetle larvae, and other bugs that like to chow on crops and flowers. There’s an annually reoccuring nest on my house (last year it was 30 ft over the front door, this year I think they’re under the porch) and that hungry-ass colony LOVES my garden and there’s usually a dozen hunting in it during daylight hours.
100% plant-safe, organic, nature-based and highly effective pest control.
Contrary to popular belief, they aren’t aggressive- I can water, weed and harvest with them around and they don’t give a shit about me. The undeserved rap comes from the unfortunate circumstance of:
1. Yellowjackets are sensitive to the colors Yellow and Red, esp fischer-price versions of those, becuase one looks like other yellowjackets, and the other looks like the flowers where their food hangs out
2. Yellowjackets are freaked out by sudden motions, like plants waving in windy conditions or humans waving arms in a panic
3. Yellowjackets release a pungent odor when crushed that causes every other yellow jacket in the are to FREAK because under normal circumstances, a crushed friend means HIVE IS UNDER ATTACK RED ALERT IT’S A FUCKIN BEAR GO GO GO!!
4. Yellowjackets fuckin’ love cooked chicken. the smell of a bucket of KFC will summon every yellowjacket for half a mile around, instigating a hornet turf war, and when some kid inevitably panics and smashes a wasp, they go from Hype to KILL A BITCH and then someone gets stung in the eyeball.
¯\_(ツ)_/¯
But as long as you move slowly and aren’t eating a chicken sandwich? they don’t notice you. Wasp has other, caterpillar-related prioroities.
Oh and to keep up with the really teeny pest like mites, treehoppers, microisopods etc, I also encouraged a shitload of these to hang out:
This is the Bold Jumper, the big jumping spider you might see around, which has bonkers good vision and can even see the moon about as well as we can. They’re harmless and adorable and my only complaint about them is that sometimes they want to hand out on my arm and not leave and I’m always worried Im gonna hurt them trying to budge them off.
Ok but you may not like the answer.
These funky lil dudes:
North American Yellowjackets is a common name refering to two genera of Hornets, Vespula and Dolichovespula, and these Neon Flying Babes are THE MOST voracious predators of catepillars, aphids, beetle larvae, and other bugs that like to chow on crops and flowers. There’s an annually reoccuring nest on my house (last year it was 30 ft over the front door, this year I think they’re under the porch) and that hungry-ass colony LOVES my garden and there’s usually a dozen hunting in it during daylight hours.
100% plant-safe, organic, nature-based and highly effective pest control.
Contrary to popular belief, they aren’t aggressive- I can water, weed and harvest with them around and they don’t give a shit about me. The undeserved rap comes from the unfortunate circumstance of:
1. Yellowjackets are sensitive to the colors Yellow and Red, esp fischer-price versions of those, becuase one looks like other yellowjackets, and the other looks like the flowers where their food hangs out
2. Yellowjackets are freaked out by sudden motions, like plants waving in windy conditions or humans waving arms in a panic
3. Yellowjackets release a pungent odor when crushed that causes every other yellow jacket in the are to FREAK because under normal circumstances, a crushed friend means HIVE IS UNDER ATTACK RED ALERT IT’S A FUCKIN BEAR GO GO GO!!
4. Yellowjackets fuckin’ love cooked chicken. the smell of a bucket of KFC will summon every yellowjacket for half a mile around, instigating a hornet turf war, and when some kid inevitably panics and smashes a wasp, they go from Hype to KILL A BITCH and then someone gets stung in the eyeball.
¯\_(ツ)_/¯
But as long as you move slowly and aren’t eating a chicken sandwich? they don’t notice you. Wasp has other, caterpillar-related prioroities.
Oh and to keep up with the really teeny pest like mites, treehoppers, microisopods etc, I also encouraged a shitload of these to hang out:
This is the Bold Jumper, the big jumping spider you might see around, which has bonkers good vision and can even see the moon about as well as we can. They’re harmless and adorable and my only complaint about them is that sometimes they want to hand out on my arm and not leave and I’m always worried Im gonna hurt them trying to budge them off.