Richard Moore Outdoor Report: South Texas Stingers

HARLINGEN, Texas ( ValleyCentral ) — Sequestered in a dense thicket of South Texas brush is a large round nest bigger than a basketball. The papery nest of chewed plant fiber with a surface like rough cardboard is swarming with thousands of wasps.

Just how many reside here is conjecture, but a nest several years old this size may hold some 20,000 Mexican honey wasps.

Mexican honey wasps range from South America throughout Mexico while barely edging into Arizona and South Texas. They are one of the few insects other than bees that produce honey, which is used to feed their larvae, and historically provided a popular food source for indigenous people.

The diminutive wasps are smaller than a honeybee and are constantly busy maintaining their home while delivering sustenance.

They primarily feed on nectar from various plants, including avocados, while contributing to pollination and also consuming small insects.

They are particularly beneficial to fruit groves as they frequently feed on insect species harmful to citrus.

Only the female honey wasp sports a stinger, and while they can deliver a sharp sting if provoked they are not aggressive and if undisturbed diligently go about their business of making honey.

However, there is another South Texas wasp that wields one of the most painful stings in nature, and that is the Tarantula wasp also known as the Tarantula hawk.

These large wasps are bright metallic blue-black with red wings and are fortunately not aggressive toward humans as their preferred target is the tarantula.

The females sting tarantulas and then drag the paralyzed prey into their den where they lay eggs on them for their larvae to later feed on.

The Mexican honey wasp and Tarantula wasp are but two of more than 30 fascinating species of wasps occurring in Texas all of which serve a vital role in the balance of nature.

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