Tom Foote wrote:

> My understanding of this behavior [aggressive yellowjackets] is
>that the wasps have lost
> their power to digest their food because of their discontinuation
> of the production of a necessary enzyme, and are, consequently,
> ravenous and in very bad temper while they starve to death..
>
> Anyone know if that's an accurate assessment?
>
> Tom

Are you pulling our tarsometatarsi, Tom? This sounds to me about as
accurate as the story of snakes swallowing their tails and renting
themselves out as hula hoops. "Discontinuation of the production of a
necessary enzyme"--how could that happen in whole populations? And, if
they're starving to death, shortly there wouldn't be any of them!

If you were a female yellowjacket, well endowed with a poisonous ovipositor
for subduing your prey, and someone grabbed you, wouldn't you sting? What
does it have to do with bad temper? I haven't seen anything unusual
recently in the behavior of these critters, and I tend to leave them alone.
But I agree that they make eating outside a challenging activity! One of
my friends got nailed on the tongue by one that crawled into her beer can.
You just have to be a little more alert in the midst of yellowjacket
visitation, for example shake your can of beer at intervals to pickle
whatever's inside.

However, if a nest gets established in your yard, you may have to take
action. You can get severely stung if a whole bunch of them decide you're
the enemy, and it's no fun running round and round your yard with a dozen
yellowjackets hot on your tail. One method of eradication is to search
(carefully) for the underground nest in the daytime, and then attack it at
night with pans of boiling water.

Dennis Paulson, Director phone 206-756-3798
Slater Museum of Natural History fax 206-756-3352
University of Puget Sound e-mail dpaulson at ups.edu
Tacoma, WA 98416