Africanized Honeybee
Apis mellifera scutellata
Characteristics
Size: About 1/2-inch in length.
Color: Golden-yellow with darker bands of brown. Some specimens appear a darker brown than others.
Behavior
Africanized honeybees (AHB) are actually a subspecies of the European honeybee, and the two look exactly the same. Only an expert making numerous microscopic measurements can tell the two apart. The difference, however, becomes readily apparent in the aggressiveness of the AHB when its colony is disturbed, lending to its nickname "killer bees." The AHB releases an alarm pheromone that calls all the workers to "battle" where they will attack and sting any moving animal or object. They will chase and sting people for hundreds of yards and have been known to sting people and pets over a whole neighborhood block. Deaths may occur due to allergic reactions from the larger number of stings received. It may take hours for the bees to settle down and return to the colony. Other honeybees will attack and sting for a few minutes and then settle down rather quickly.
Habitat
In the United States, the AHB has become established from Texas over to southern California . Colonies have also been discovered in Florida and a few other southeastern states but these have been quickly eradicated. In the wild, honeybees most often nest inside cavities of trees, but they will also nest within caves and cracks in rock formations. Occasionally, a colony will decide to nest inside a crawl space, an attic, a wall void, or a chimney in a home.
Tips for Control
Because the Africanized honeybee cannot be distinguished from its native cousins without detailed scientific measurements, any honeybee nest or swarm found in southwestern states should be respected at a safe distance. Only experienced beekeepers and/or pest management professionals should be contacted to deal with colonies or swarms of honeybees. Never attempt to treat such nests without the proper training and equipment.
Once the colony inside a wall or attic has been eliminated, the building owner will need to open the wall and remove all the honey and honeycomb. If not removed, the honey will rot, produce strong odors and seeping stains, and will attract other insect pests.
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Bumblebee
Subfamily Bombinae
Characteristics
Size: Ranges up to 1 inch in length.
Color: Usually black with yellow stripes on the thorax and abdomen.
Often confused with carpenter bees, bumblebees are characterized by the hairiness of the abdomen (carpenter bees have a smooth abdomen).
Behavior
As social insects, bumblebees live in colonies. Each spring a queen that has survived overwintering will find a suitable nesting site and establish her colony. Her first brood of eggs mature into workers that forage on pollen and nectar for food. The workers do produce honey, but it is not edible to humans. The colony grows larger over the summer and is usually discovered by a homeowner while gardening or mowing the lawn. The bees will attack to defend their nest, so they are considered a health concern. During the fall, the colony produces a number of queens that fly out to find protected sites to spend the winter and thus repeat the cycle next year.
Habitat
Bumblebees live in colonies, in old rodent burrows, or other cavities within the ground. Occasionally, bumblebees will establish a nest above ground in a wall, firewood pile, shed, crawl space or attic.
Tips for Control
- To prevent bees from establishing nests on a property, fill in all animal burrows and holes in the soil.
- Seal holes in the buildings exterior and ensure that all vents have tight-fitting screens.
- When a nest is discovered in or around a home, a professional should be contacted to treat the nest.
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Carpenter Bee
Family Anthophoridae
Characteristics
Size: The species of most importance are about 1-inch long and have a robust, bee-like shape.
Color: Like bumblebees, carpenter bees are black with some yellow. One carpenter bee species in the southwest, the valley carpenter bee, has a metallic-black colored female and a tan colored male.
Carpenter bees resemble bumblebees in both size and color. Most carpenter bees have yellow hairs on their thorax but their abdomens are all black and shiny with few hairs. However, bumblebees have hairy abdomens, often with considerable amounts of yellow coloration.
Behavior
Carpenter bees chew out tunnels in wood in which to lay their eggs and provide a protected site for their larvae to develop. The female bee selects a suitable log or piece of wood and chews a round, 1/2-inch diameter tunnel into the wood. About one-inch deep, she turns at a right angle and chews a tunnel (nest gallery) about 12 inches in length. The bits of wood she chews off are deposited outside the nest and end up on the ground below. These bits of wood, called frass, often are streaked yellow from pollen on the female s legs. An egg will be deposited at the end of the nest gallery; the female will then pack the gallery about an inch deep with pollen. This process is repeated until the entire gallery has been filled. The male carpenter bee guards the outside of the nest and tries to chase away potential predators. He does not have a stinger, but still causes concern with his aggressive buzzing if people venture near the nest site.
Habitat
In nature, logs and dead trees and limbs are the targets for carpenter bees as nest sites. On homes, bare wood decks, fences, and window sills is usually attacked. Painted wood, however, is subject to attack although bare wood is preferred.
Tips for Control
Painting bare wood that is being attacked by carpenter bees can deter some bees; however, it does not offer the best solution.
- If the wood targeted by bees is treated with a residual pest control product, carpenter bees may be repelled or killed by the treatment.
- Once holes have been started, the nest galleries may be treated.
- The holes can be plugged several weeks later when it is positive that the bees have been killed.
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Honeybee
Apis mellifera
Characteristics
Size: 1/2-inch in length.
Color: Golden-yellow in color with darker bands of brown.
Most everyone recognizes the honeybee common to any flowering garden.
Behavior
Honeybees are the only type of social bee that establish perennial colonies that may survive a decade or longer. These bees forage on pollen and nectar from flowering plants and use these materials to produce the honey that will feed the colony through the winter months. Waxy honeycombs will fill the nest cavity, a fact that makes removal of honeybees from buildings a messy chore. All honeybee colonies produce queens and drones in the spring. These reproductives mate, and the queens may "abscond" with a number of workers to start new colonies. These swarms may be seen clustered on a tree branch, a fence, or a building as the bees rest before flying off again to find a suitable nesting site. Because hundreds of bees are part of this swarm, people are often concerned about the possibility of the bees attacking. Usually, the bees in these swarms are docile and nonaggressive unless vigorously disturbed.
Habitat
In the wild, honeybees most often nest inside cavities within trees, but they will also nest within caves and cracks in rock formations. Occasionally, a colony will decide to nest inside a crawl space, an attic, a wall void, or a chimney in a home.
Tips for Control
Because the Africanized honeybee cannot be distinguished from its native cousins without detailed scientific measurements, any honeybee nest or swarm found in the southwestern states should be respected at a safe distance. Only experienced beekeepers and/or pest management professionals should be contacted to deal with colonies or swarms of honeybees. Never attempt to treat such nests without the proper training and equipment.
Once the colony inside a wall or attic has been eliminated, the building owner will need to open the wall and remove all the honey and honeycomb. If not removed, the honey will rot, produce strong odors and seeping stains, and will attract other insect pests.
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Paper Wasp
Polistes spp.
Characteristics
Size: Most species are about 1 inch in length, but a few may be as small as 1/2-inch or as large as 1-1/2 inches.
Color: Many are reddish-brown or dark red. Some species are more orange, while others have varying bright stripes of red and yellow.
Behavior
The key to identifying paper wasps is the shape of the nest -- a round, upside-down paper comb that is attached by a single stalk to a horizontal surface in a protected location. This paper nest resembles an umbrella, lending to these wasps nickname, "umbrella wasps." The colony starts out each spring as a single queen that has overwintered in a protected site, such as beneath bark, within leaf litter or inside the walls or attics of buildings. The queen finds a suitable nesting site and constructs a small comb nest in which she raises her first brood of larvae. These larvae mature into adult workers which then begin to forage for food, care for the new young, and enlarge the nest. Paper wasps are predators and feed on insects, spiders, and caterpillars. Most paper wasp colonies number only a few dozen workers, but under the right conditions, a colony might produce more than 100 workers. In early fall, the colony produces queens which fly out to find a site to overwinter.
Habitat
Most paper wasp nests are located in exposed areas beneath soffits, in the corners of windows, under awnings, under porches, and beneath decks. These wasps, however, will also nest within voids and other protected sites, such as gas grills, electric outlet boxes, hose reels, attics, and crawl spaces. They often enter attics through holes in the soffits, attic vent screens, and underneath shingles.
Tips for Control
Paper wasp nests are usually easily controlled using a wasp treatment product, then knocking down the nest. Such treatments are best done at night, although professionals can safely treat them during the day. On buildings where continuous paper wasp nest building occurs, treatment of the affected areas with a residual pest control product applied by a professional can deter most of the activity.
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Scorpion
Characteristics
Size: Varies between species, but most measure about 2 inches fully grown.
Color: Can vary widely between yellow, blue, reddish brown, and black.
Behavior
Scorpions are predators that feed primarily on insects. They crawl into buildings through exterior cracks in search of food or suitable shelter. Once inside, they may wander into clothing, shoes, or a bed where someone might contact them resulting in a scorpion sting. Stepping barefoot on a scorpion is another common way to be stung.
Habitat
Scorpions are found throughout the southern United States from coast to coast. Only one species of scorpion found in the United States could be considered dangerous,
and it is found in the extreme southwest in Arizona and southern California. Still, only small children and the elderly are at risk of a fatal sting from this species.
Any scorpion sting, however, can be serious to anyone that is allergic to insect stings. A physician should attend to all stings.
Tips for Control
To reduce scorpions around a home, eliminate as many piles of items or debris on the ground and keep dense vegetation to a minimum. All scorpions glow green under black light,
so a portable black light can be used outside at night to find where scorpions are harboring. When a home is chronically invaded by these arthropods, it is best to seek the
services of a professional such as Terminix to achieve long-term relief.
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