Anticimex believes we will see more wasps this year, TT reports. The Swedes' Google searches for wasps have also increased. We want to know if they have gotten bigger, how to get rid of them and if they are scared away by hung paper bags.
"Optical Illusion"Niklas Johansson, entomologist at Artdatabanken SLU, is an expert on spines and wild bees. He has not seen any increase in wasps this year, nor has he noticed that they would be larger than usual:
- I would have reacted to that. Maybe they will be a little bigger since it's been a hot winter.
Johansson rather thinks that we mistaken queens for quite ordinary wasps.
- It's a bit of an optical illusion. Queens are bigger, and they are wintering, he says.
Can be honeysuckleJohansson also believes that this may be due to the fact that bullying has begun to spread to new places in the country. The beeswings queens can grow up to 3.5 centimeters - almost twice the size of normal wasp queens.
- The beetles have increased over the past 25 years, from being rare. Now many may experience them for the first time. We have received several pictures from frightened people, and it often turns out to be a bonfire, he says.
Johansson does not think one should be afraid of the honeymooners, and thinks that they are reminiscent of hops in their behavior:
- It is one of the nicest wasps, and they also place smaller communities than a normal wasp.
Warns of invasive speciesInstead of worrying about our domestic roaches, Niklas Johansson instead wants the public to keep an eye out for the invasive Asian velvet thing that has begun to spread across Europe, and which may also emerge in Sweden.
The velvet beetle is related to the Swedish beetle thing, but it is much more troublesome for other insects. Among other things, it can attack tame bees.
- If you suspect you have found a velvet gift, take a picture and report it to the County Administrative Board, says Niklas Johansson.