A person’s home and property is somewhere they should be able to feel safe and at ease, but if you discover a wasp infestation in your backyard, relaxation may prove to be more than a little challenging. Wasps are great insects for the environment, but they’re still dangerous pests, and the danger tends to outweigh the environmental benefits when they take up residence within neighborhoods. So, what can you do to keep them away from your Tucson property this year?

The Buzz About Common Wasps In Tucson

Arizona is home to a bounty of different species of wasps, though most of them are happy to stay away from civilization. Only a handful are commonly found around Tucson neighborhoods:

• Yellow Jacket – ½ to ¾ of an inch long, black and yellow striped
• Paper Wasp – ½ to 1 ½ of an inch long, coloring varies on the subspecies
• Bald-faced Hornet – ¾ of an inch long, black and pale yellow striped
• Tarantula Hawk – 2 inches long, metallic blue bodies with orange wings

Among these species, only one of them isn’t inherently territorial – the tarantula hawk. These wasps may look terrifying, but they’re actually solitary wasps, and the most docile of the group. The rest of them share that hive mentality to protect the queen and nest at all costs, and though the majority of them don’t grow over an inch in length, trying to battle an entire colony of angry wasps is no picnic.

There are actually three known subspecies of paper wasps in Tucson; the yellow paper wasp, the Navajo paper wasp, and the Arizona paper wasp. While they may slightly vary in appearance, their behavior is still much the same. They build aerial paper-like nests in trees, bushes, under patio roofs, and on the eaves of houses. Bald-faced hornets also build aerial nests, but yellow jackets stick to building their combs underground, within hollowed tree trunks, or wall voids.

Why Do Wasps Infest Tucson Properties?

Wasps are primarily attracted to an abundance of food, and it turns out they enjoy a lot of the same foods people enjoy. That includes sugary foods and drinks, fruits, and proteins. Similar to bees though, they also like sampling nectar on occasion, and to the benefit of gardeners they happily consume plant-eating pests like mealie bugs, aphids, grasshoppers, ants, and caterpillars.

Another attractive quality a lot of Tucson properties have are safe places to nest with minimal foot traffic. With all of these factors in mind, you can then start to implement preventative measures that will aid in keeping them away:

• Keep tight-fitting lids on all outdoor trash cans.
• Clean up outdoor food prep and eating areas immediately after consumption.
• Trim back thick bushes and low-hanging branches.
• Fill in any yard holes and old rodent dens around your property.
• Avoid over-watering your garden.
• Try not to add too many flowering plants, and consider adding wasp-repelling plants to your garden as well; geraniums, marigold, pennyroyal, citronella, eucalyptus, wormwood.
• Try adding fake nests around your property; wasps won’t nest within several hundred feet of another nest.
• Repair any gaps, cracks, and holes around the exterior of your home.

What Can You Do About A Wasp Infestation On Your Tucson Property?

With how aggressive and dangerous these outdoor pests are, it’s never advised to try to tackle a wasp infestation on your own, and thankfully with Pest Friends, you don’t have to. We offer a wide range of pest control treatment options for our customers to choose from, including prevention, and we only use the highest quality pest control products that are safe, effective, and eco-friendly as well. Safety and satisfaction are our top priorities, which is why every treatment is backed with a 100% guarantee. So get in contact with us today for pest control in Tucson, and let us take the sting out of your summer.