Subject: Shower Wasp?
Location: Dallas, Texas
December 28, 2013 12:46 pm
It’s December in Texas, and this flying bug (and lots of its relatives) has recently shown up in our shower. We see about 2-4 a day. The shower has an exterior wall, but we can’t find any holes around the tile or windows. It doesn’t seem to be aggressive, but it does look like a stinger-type body. Ideas?
Signature: LN
Ed. Note:
We did not recognize this wasp and we thought the situation was odd, so we contacted Eric Eaton with the following.
Hi Eric,
Happy New Year.
This Wasp is from Dallas Texas. The person keeps finding them in an indoor shower with an outside wall. They find two to four a day. This does not look like a social wasp to me. Can you identify at least family and possibly species?
Thanks
Daniel
Hi, Daniel:
Happy New Year to you, too.
This wasp is not a social wasp, but a solitary one in the family Crabronidae, tribe Larrini. It *might* be Tachytes or Larropsis for genus, but they are difficult to determine to genus without having the specimen in hand. Don’t know why they are emerging indoors at this time of year, but they are *not* harmful.
Eric
Dear LN,
We sought some assistance from Eric Eaton with your request and his response is included. According to BugGuide, the Square Headed Wasps in the subfamily Crabroninae: “nest in hollow stems or in abandoned galleries in wood, others burrow in the ground. Prey is mostly flies, but some utilize other insects.” If you have sash windows, they might have emerged from a nest in the windowframe due to the warmth indoors.
I am seeing 3-5 of these in my house in dallas right now. They are not aggressive just don’t know where they could be coming from. Fireplace? No other place they could get in my house. Help. How do I get rid of them?
We do not provide extermination advice.