Talk:Vespula vulgaris

Aggression

There is a common belief that wasps sting humans for no reason and are naturally aggressive. Can anyone prove or deny this? TomGreen 08:10, 16 April 2007 (UTC)

I believe this is a myth, caused by people not realizing that their actions cause them to be perceived as threats; wasps don't go around hunting for people or anything. On another topic, though, more details on their stinging defence and the relation to humans would be nice. Mad2Physicist (talk) 05:59, 19 September 2008 (UTC)

One thing I could never remeber - is it acid or alkline that you need to treat a sting? I know bee sting are one and wasps the other, I suppose it would be usefull to have this info in the article(s). Elcaballooscuro (talk) 10:38, 16 May 2009 (UTC)

Neither. You're not going to accurately neutralise the pH of the sting, and even if you did that wouldn't be enough to treat it. Zetetic Apparatchik (talk) 01:11, 14 August 2009 (UTC)

Every summer in Belgium, nests of wasps are everywhere. I have been stung several times by them as a child. For some reason these animals fly around human beings and land on them. Why they would then see the human as a threat, I don't know, but they sting. When having dinner outside in the summer, often a wasp will appear and circle around the people eating, one by one. They appear to be more interested in circling around people, than in the food on the table. 81.83.41.159 (talk) 10:06, 2 August 2009 (UTC)

Will they sting you if they just land on you but you don't move a muscle? Could we have a section on aggression? Tom Green (talk) 12:59, 9 August 2009 (UTC)

Do you wear deodorant or aftershave? Do you wear bright coloured clothing? Do you move agressively? If you answer any of these questions with "yes", then I am not surprised to see their interest in you. - WoutR, 16 August 2009

Well he did mention having dinner outside. Wasps are basically omnivores in that they will eat fruit as well as meat. They aggressively guard their nests and food sources. So while they will not hunt humans (why would they?) they will certainly guard food they find and their nests. Of course if they can they will try to run you off first. If you run even a relatively short distance away they will leave you alone. They basically have a radius they guard of some few yards/meters, although I have not found documentation of what this territorial radius is for a given species. And of course they defend themselves if they feel threatened, like most animals. Rifter0x0000 (talk) 08:36, 4 July 2011 (UTC)

I can neither prove nor deny it, but I was aggressively stung by wasps as a child. I ended up with ~15 stings all around my right wrist. All I did was (unknowingly) brush against a bush they were resting on. It was in the autumn/fall at the time. I had two theories back then, the first was that they'd been feeding on rotten fruit, and were intoxicated; my other thought was that they were dying off as winter approached, and they were a little ill tempered as a result. Quickos (talk) 03:07, 23 September 2009 (UTC)

'Jasper'

I noticed that it comments that "Common wasps are colloquially known as "jaspers" in south eastern England and more commonly the English Midlands," yet I've lived in the midlands all my life and never heard anyone use the term Jasper. Could a citation be given?--80.4.79.203 (talk)

I second this. I have lived in the midlands have never even heard the term. 'wabbies' sometimes....Here is a discussion about the term http://www.qi.com/talk/viewtopic.php?t=5796&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=0 But I don't think people can decide maybe it is an age thing or very localised in teh same areas. Rovastar (talk) 00:50, 18 January 2011 (UTC)

This is a common phrase in northern Lincolnshire, I don't know about anywhere else. Tom Green (talk) 15:22, 8 August 2011 (UTC)

Me too. I live around the midlands and I have never even heard wasps called this. Alicianpig (talk) 06:03, 15 August 2011 (UTC)

Underground Nests Only?

I've seen plenty of open, hexagonal-celled paper nests hanging from walls and roofs, but I've seen wasps going in and out of little holes in the ground, so I have to ask, the article says their nests are exclusively underground, but I believe that to be mistaken. 75.157.120.15 (talk) 03:54, 2 July 2010 (UTC)