Hornets & False Widow Spiders

In Pests, Stories from the Pest Control team

Hornets & False Widow Spiders:
At PEST UK we like Hornets they are interesting insects and much less aggressive than wasps. The sting is meant to be more painful than a wasp sting due to the large amount of acetylcholine (5%). Like wasps and unlike bees, they can sting multiple times. They use their sting to defend their nest and to kill prey. Below are pictures of a Hornets nest that Haydn Philips of PEST UK treated in a shed in High Wycombe. After he had treated the nest he returned a few days later to take photo’s and remove the nest. The colour of the nest is similar to the Common Wasp but probably not quite so attractive as their nests are a brown colour with creamy coloured whirls in. The German Wasp has a grey nest. Nests are made from chewed up wood pulp and bark mixed with saliva. A favourite source of wasp nesting material is wood fences or garden furniture that has been cured by the sun. You can often see the marks the worker wasps make and in fact in the Spring and Summer see the wasps chewing the surfaces of the wood.



Already this morning we have had calls from newspapers asking about False Widow spiders. The press are looking for a story! Unfortunately there isn’t one. As well as calls from the press there have been several calls enquiring about treatment and general questions on the False Widow spider.

We can treat houses for spiders, in fact in the Autumn this is quite a regular occurrence. A residual insecticide is sprayed externally and internally around windows as well as the wall/floor and wall ceiling junction. This kills spiders as they walk over the treated surfaces. The insecticide will remain active up to two months but at less strength as time goes by. We also advise about removing creepers and vegetation away from walls. At PEST UK we don’t like killing spiders. They do a lot of good by killing flies.

To book a pest control treatment or free advice then please call us at PEST UK: 0330 100 2811 (local rate) or 0800 026 0308 (free from land lines & some mobiles).

BPCA – Hornets

Spider by the BPCA