Those fake cobwebs some people insist on garbaging their homes with this time of year turn out to be as effective as real cobwebs in trapping dust, bits of leaves, and, as I noticed on Congress St. the other day, a dozen wasps.
Vespula maculifrons, the Eastern Yellowjacket. Black antennae, remember, are good for IDing the Vespula. Not sure if every single victim was the same species, since some were practically entombed in these fibers, though it seems like they all should be since so few wasps are still out and about in this neck of fall. On another clump of this fake stuff — which seems to be made out of cotton and plant fibers, as far as I can tell, so at least isn’t more plastic shit to befoul the future like much of the holiday junk sold — held a still-living wasp, struggling to free her legs, but my sting-cautious efforts to help her were unsuccessful.
UPDATE: I’ve now learned from a wildlife rehab center that these fake cobwebs can also trap birds.
Poor things.
It couldn’t happen to a better species! Speaking, of course, from the point of view of one who has been stung by one of these critters.
They can be stingy when provoked, however unintentionally — one site I checked said they were responsible for half of all insect stings (honey bees are often blamed for their stings) — hence my caution, but they are also immensely beneficial to humans because they feed great numbers of other species to their young. Earwigs and caterpillars in particular. Both farmers and gardeners benefit from the natural pest control performed by yellowjackets, and when farmers benefit that means we all benefit.
In that case, I’ll be more sympathetic – from a safe distance, of course.