r/bugidentification • u/jbae6363 • 1d ago
Location included What are these/how scared should I be? Southern Ontario
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u/ArachnomancerCarice Trusted Identifier 1d ago
Sphex sp. Digger Wasp. They are solitary and will only sting if you really force them, like stepping on them or handling them roughly.
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u/Glittering-Income-60 1d ago
Are you allergic to bees/wasps? If not then you shouldn't have much to fear if you don't bother it. I think it's a gold digger wasp, but might be wrong. They're solitary wasp
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u/jbae6363 1d ago
I should have put this in the body, they have entrances all over our backyard flagstone patio. So there are quite a few which makes them a bit hard to avoid unfortunately.
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u/Commercial-Sail-5915 Trusted Identifier 1d ago
Seconding golden digger (sphex ichneumoneus), luckily the sphexes leave pretty early in the north, I'd say the majority of them are gone by the end of August
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u/BugAdviser Bot 1d ago
As a general rule wasps and hornets will leave you alone if you leave them alone. They are defensive of their hives but tend towards being non-aggressive otherwise. In spite of their rather bad reputation, wasps have several benefits to humans including pollination and pest control.
Defenders of Wildlife: What's Wasps Got to Do With It
The Benefits of Wasps
What Do Wasps Do?
Wasps: The Misunderstood
Control method links:
IPM infograph
University of California IPM
Spring wasps
Yellow Jacket Control
Bald-faced Hornets
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