Insect Calendar
Use this interactive calendar below that will explain the life cycles of all insects listed and what is happening during each season. With product recommendations for the different time of the year.
Select an insect
General Information about Wasps
New Zealand has several kinds of native wasps which have evolved here and have never become a nuisance. But five social species of wasps have been accidentally introduced since the 1940s and are classed as pests (German and common wasps, and three species of paper wasps). Wasps are social insects that live in colonies with as many as 5000 wasps per nest.
Introduced wasps are a significant pest which harm our native birds and insects and are a threat to human health and recreation. All social wasps are capable of producing a painful sting but none leave the stinger embedded, as do honey bee workers.
What to Look For - Signs of a Wasp Infestation
When checking for nests each spring they should be tiny and easy to deal with. They will be about the size of a golf ball. Check the loft, garage, shed and under eaves if you see any wasps flying around to make sure you haven’t got any tiny wee nest anywhere on your property.
- Wasps commonly nest in a wide variety of sites, including on and inside buildings, in trees and in the ground.
- Newly produced and mated queens leave their old nests and search for protected sites to spend the winter (under loose tree bark, old rotten stumps, or within buildings, such as under siding).
