"charliekilo" wrote in message
om...
I'm curious, is there a predator of the paper wasp. I have several nests
around my house and suddenly today all of the nests have fallen to the
ground and there are dying wasps laying around.

I live in a private residence and there hasn't been anyone on the property
today other than me...and the nest are scattered around the house not in
just one area.

Strange(?)


Of course there is - "So, naturalists observe, a flea / Has smaller fleas
that on him prey; / And these have smaller still to bite 'em; / And so
proceed ad infinitum."

There are several fungi that, while not specific to vespids, deteriorate the
structure of the nests at the same time that they're toxic to the insects.
The University of New Zealand was looking at some of these as potential
organic controls for introduced wasp species. Maybe they'd be interested in
your nests!

--
Mike Harris
Austin, TX