How to Get Rid of Horntail Wasps

Have you ever seen a giant wasp-like insect that lingers or flies out of your wood? That was probably a wood-boring creature called horntail wasp or wood wasp. They are a group of species in the Siricidae family that inhabit wood structures and are not a threat to humans.

Still, they might cause a disturbance because of their enormous size, loud buzz, and how they infest on wood. Keep reading to know more about wood wasps and why you should get rid of them.  

What are Horntail Wasps or Wood Wasps?

Horntail wasps are among the known kinds of wood-boring insects, like carpenter bees and carpenter ants, that linger and infest wood. Horntails are called wasps because they resemble the wasp insect group, except wood wasps don’t sting. At first glance, horntail wasps look harmful, mainly because of their elongated tail. However, their tail, or ovipositor, is only for laying eggs and not for stinging, and only female horntail wasps have it. 

Here are more key details about horntail wasps: 

Appearance

Size varies from 1 inch to a centimeter longer on their barrel-shaped body with no waist. The color of wood wasps ranges from black to dark blue. Sometimes you can find an adult horntail with a black, red, and yellow color combination, just like the pigeon tremex, one known horntail species. 

And the only difference between males and females is the ovipositor or tail on the female. 

Life Cycle

The life cycle of horntails begins when a fertile female uses its ovipositor to drill into wood and lay eggs. Wood wasp larvae live in the host wood for up to three years. Larvae feed on sapwood beneath the bark and then fungus in the heartwood before returning to sapwood to complete their feeding process. 

After their pupal stage, adult wasps will emerge by chewing through the wood or bark, leaving prominent exit holes when they leave. 

Why Wood Wasps are Considered Pests

Wood wasps don’t sting, so they’re not considered dangerous to humans. But they can still cause a disturbance when they fly around, leaving unsettling holes in wood. They are generally attracted to dying or freshly cut wood. And without proper drying, an infested wood can make its way to your home, and eventually, an adult horntail will emerge from it. 

The damage caused by horntails in the wood is in appearance rather than in the structure.

Signs of Infestation

Infestation is easy to spot. For instance, wood wasp larvae are recognizable with their white color and distinct spine. Unfortunately, you will only see an infestation most of the time once adult wood wasps start to emerge and cause clean-cut holes in your wood. And they can be found on any part of the house depending on the wood used in wood frames, siding, overhangs, decks, and other similar areas that use wood. The good news is that horntails don’t infest on all types of wood, only dying ones or recently cut ones, and are mainly on these trees: 

• Elm
• Apple
• Pear
• Beech
• Maple
• Oak
• Hickory
• Sycamore 

How to get rid of Horntail Wasps?

Kiln drying or vacuum fumigation on wood is the most effective horntail extermination method, but that’s only for unused lumber. It will cost you a lot of money to get such treatment if you have the wood installed in your house. It’s not practical to remove the wood, considering wood wasps can’t weaken the structure of the wood and are not harmful when they finally emerge.

The Best Methods for Horntail Removal

You can use Raid Wasp or any similar product on giant horntails coming out of the wood. A swatter is a great option, too, but you have to deal with the mess of swatted insects. Before you make patches on the holes, you have to eliminate the whole nest first, so you don’t have to deal with new adult wasps and repeat the entire process of manually exterminating them.  

If you find the wood wasp nest, you can use Drione Insecticide dust directly into the holes. Dusting the area will dry the wasp and exterminate them. Once you kill the wood wasps, you can make patches to the wood to prevent them from returning.

If you see a female horntail lingering in the same area where the nest was, exterminate it before laying an egg.