In addition to the social, real wasps, there are numerous solitary species. Some of them look like hornets (e.g. digger wasps and pompilids) and they can also inflict painful stings if you annoy them. Several species of small dark ichneumon flies may be found indoors. Usually, they will not sting people, but some species can […]
Control
If you know where the nest is, you can move around the house without making the hornets nervous see, you can live with a wasp’s nest in the house or garden. In many cases, it is impractical; especially there are children in the house. Then eradication is necessary. A free-hanging hive can be neutralized by […]
Prevention
You can avoid hornets settling into the house, by covering potential nesting holes with nylon nets. First and foremost, the gaps between boards in the eaves and vents in the walls need to be covered.
Hornet stings
Hornets are predators that use their stinger to overpower other insects. As you know, they also use it to defend themselves and their larvae. The stingers are not barbed, and can sting multiple times. Hornets do not sting when they are not provoked, however, especially in the immediate vicinity of the nest, they respond quickly […]
Life cycle
Only young fertilized queen hornets overwinter. The queens wake up in the middle of April, and in May they start the process of building up new colonies. In late May, the first workers hatch, and from there, the colony size quickly grows. In August, there are up to 5000-6000 members of the colony. Until then, […]
Hornets (actual wasps)
In Denmark, there are seven species of social hornets. 6 of them are very similar to each other. They belong to the genera Paravespula and Dolichovespula while the species known as the European Hornet, Vespa crabo is more of a reddish yellow and twice the size of the others. Colloquially, they are often called wasps, […]
Solitary bees
In Denmark, there are a few hundred species of the so-called solitary bees. It is usually small, grayish or dark species. Most look like small versions of the honeybee. They are called solitary bees because they do not live in the colonies. Each female bee builds its own nest, lay eggs and gather food for […]
Control
In most cases, having a bumble bee family in the house poses no problems. They are, as mentioned, peaceful, and they make themselves useful by pollinating crops in the garden. In the rare cases when they are not tolerated, they can be controlled in the same manner as honeybees.
Bumblebee stings
Most bumblebees are so good-natured that people think they cannot sting. This is, however, not the case. Bumblebees have a powerful stinger and venom glands. By virtue of their size, the sting is painful.
Bumblebees
In Denmark, there is a dozen species of the usually big, strong and furry bumblebees of the genus Bombus. In contrast to honey bees bumble bee colonies only live one season. In the autumn all the workers and the old queen die. There are some young queens who – after having mated – goes into […]
Prevention and control
You run the greatest risk of being stung by bees when you are near their hive. If you are allergic to bee venom, it makes sense to stay away from the hives. It is also a good idea to avoid walking barefoot in flowering clover meadows or among other flowers that the bees are attracted […]
Bee stings
Honeybees only sting in defense. The sting is barbed and is, along with the venom sac, modified so it stays in the victim. The bee dies afterwards, but the sting can continue to deliver venom. There is about 0.1 mg venom in one bee sting, and in order for the effect of the venom to […]
Life cycle
A honey bee family may comprise more than 50,000 individuals. In each family, there is only one egg-laying queen. The workers collect food, nectar and pollen, and inside the nest they build honeycombs, which consist of two layers of hexagonal cells. Some of the cells contain the bees’ larvae. Other cells are used to store […]
The honey bee
Almost all honey bees, Apis mellifica, live as livestock in designated hives, however, wild swarms can settle and adapt in cavity walls, chimneys or hollow trees.
Bees, wasps and ants
Bees, wasps and ants belong to the group of insects known as hymenoptera (Hymenoptera). Many hymenoptera have sucking mouth parts, a tube with which they can drink liquid such as nectar. In addition, their mandibles are used to bite and chew, and for many of the hymenoptera, it is an important tool when they build […]
Prevention and control
One should not refrain from having birds on the house out of fear for louse flies. The risk of them getting inside the house is, after all, very little. If they show up, they are easily eradicated with one of the usual pesticide sprays with pyrethrin. Treating nest environments with an insect powder will usually […]
Life cycle
When louse flies breed, the larvae develop inside the mother, before being deposited to pupate. Louse flies are mostly found on birds, and sucks blood through a short proboscis. However, the flies are also found in nests where you can also find the overwintering pupae, while the birds have migrated south during the winter. From […]
Louse flies
The louse flies, of the family Hippoboscidae. They are obligate parasites of mammals and birds. They are flattened with leathery skin, and their legs have powerful claws that they use to hang onto their hosts. The species, which are most frequently found indoors, include the swift louse fly, Craetaerina pallida and the Stenepteryx hirundinis.
Horse-fly bites
Only the female horse flies suck blood. The males feed on nectar. A horse fly, which is about to suck blood, is almost impossible to get off, and is therefore easy to kill. Their eyes are well developed, and they often use their eyesight when finding their hosts. They move towards dark silhouettes in the […]
Life cycle
Horse-flies lay their eggs on the plants that grow in damp places. When the larvae hatch, they crawl down into the moist earth or into the water where they live as voracious predators of the prey they can overpower. The adult horse-flies are active and fast fliers, and they can fly far away from their […]
Horse-flies
In Denmark, there are a dozen different horse-fly species of the family Tabanidae. The biggest fly in Denmark is a horse-fly, namely the 3 cm long pale giant horse-fly, Tabanus bovinus. However, it is mainly the smaller species which can become so numerous that they become troublesome: deer flies of the genus Chrysops, which has […]
Control
Stable fly control in stables follows the same procedures and is performed with the same insecticides as used against house flies. They are not resistant to the insecticides. Large numbers of stable flies, which have made their way into the living room, can be killed with an Aerosol-spray with pyrethrin I and II + piperonyl […]
Stable fly bites
Both sexes feed on blood, and the meals are a few days apart. Stable flies prefer cattle blood, so in the barn, they rarely attack humans. The stable flies that stray into living quarters, however, are likely to put their proboscis in humans. They mostly bite legs and it hurts, it almost feels like a […]
Life cycle
The stable flies generally stay indoor and they are particularly fond of stables. From the stables, they can spread to nearby residential houses, but you never see them in real urban areas. The eggs are laid in the manure, preferably when it is wet, for example in stalls and in cattle yards under dripping faucets. […]
The stable fly
In late summer, people often say that now flies have started to bite. It is not the common house fly, which has suddenly become aggressive, but its close relative the stable fly, Stomoxys calcitrans. It is mostly common in the fall, but can also be a nuisance during spring and summer. A stable fly looks […]
Prevention and control
Mosquito repellents have some effect against black flies, but the effect will rarely last for more than a few hours. In the countries where black flies transmit serious diseases, the streams in which the larvae hatch are treated with insecticide. This, however, is not an approach that will be used in Denmark, where the black […]
Black fly bites
Only female black flies need blood, and they bites outdoors at all times of the day. Most black flies prefer other host animals; however, they bite humans if more suitable hosts are not present. When a black fly is about to suck blood, it is not easy to chase away. However, it is easy to […]
Life cycle
Black flies lay their eggs on aquatic plants or rocks. The larvae, which are almost bottle-shaped, stick to the ground sticking the body out in the water. On the head they have a special ‘brush-like’ mouth part that collects tiny organisms out of the water. Pupation occurs in a cocoon that is open at one […]
Black flies
The black fly (Simuliidae) is approx. 2 mm long, powerfully built flies. They are black and often have whitish markings on the body and legs. There are fifty different species of black flies in Denmark. They all need running water. Some species mate in streams, others in brooks and ditches.
Prevention and control
The oil-based mosquito repellents, which are effective against mosquitoes, are also effective against midges. Thoroughly apply the repellent – the midges can find even a small spot of untreated skin. The effect of the treatment is brief (a few hours). Draining or flooding of larval breeding sites as well as spraying the breeding sites with […]