By Exopest on Wednesday, July 29th, 2015 in Print.
VICTORIANS are being stung with a late summer wasp plague and pest control companies in Melbourne can’t keep up with the public calls for help.
Exopest pest control director and owner Simon Dixon has been run off his feet over the past few weeks, as the company has gone from a couple of wasp jobs per week to five or six jobs per day.
“We can’t believe the numbers of calls we’re getting every day — we can’t cater for them all,” Mr Dixon said.
“The inner city is just rife with nests.”
Late summer and early autumn are the danger seasons for wasp attacks, and weather conditions in the state have caused a “perfect storm” ideal for the winged pests.
Victoria is not too hot, it’s not too cold, it’s just right for Vespula germanica — the dreaded species of European wasp. An unusually warm winter last year kept alive many of the hibernating wasp queens and caused more nests to survive and flourish in early spring.
Despite exaggerated reports of pest “plagues” in the past, Mr Dixon said Melbourne’s wasp problem is “the genuine thing”. “This one is true, it’s not a beat up story,” he said. “It’s a real, real issue — especially with your children.”
European wasps are scavengers, feeding on meat and inner-city garbage They are attracted to ordinary drinks and children drinking out of soft drink cans are being warned to use a straw.
There have also been reports of the yellow-jacketed insects terrorising latte- sippers along popular cafe strips in South Yarra.
Melbourne University’s School of Bioscience pro- fessor, Mark Elgar, said the European wasp population is only going to increase as the range of viable food sources in Victoria grows.
“You might notice more from one year to the next, and that reflects the number of resources increasing for them,” Prof Elgar said. He said that part of the creatures’ tenacity has to do with their role as “social insects”.
“They are incredibly effective at looking after their young,” he said.
“And if you kill off one nest that may then become recolo- nised by another colony.”
Victims of wasp attacks should immediately apply an ice pack to the sting, and seek medical assistance if an alllergic reaction occurs. nicholas.payne@news.com.au
A European wasp looks similar in size and shape to a bee, 15-20mm, a bright yellow body with triangle markings, long antennae. Unlike a bee, which can sting only once, wasps stings repeatedly and give off a chemical telling other wasps to attack.
Causes burning pain, a raised lump, redness, local inflammation and severe allergic reactions isolated wasp stings rarely serious.
The most severe reaction is anaphylaxis.
Seek urgent medical attention if a child is stung more than 5 times or an adult more than 10 times, or if they have a severe allergic reaction or history of reactions.
Look for signs of anaphylaxis, such as swelling to mouth, tongue, throat, difficulty breathing or swallowing, chest pain, unconsciousness.
Lack of predators and good climate means they are a growing problem. They prefer to nest near humans to be near food. Nests may contain more than 100,000, typically in retaining walls, under-ground, tree hollows, etc, and look like grey papier mache.
