Today is the first full day of fall. By tomorrow, it will sure feel like it with rain storms headed our way. The Napa Valley looks beautiful next week (we leave Tuesday) so that will be the final taste of summer before the October curtain comes down and we start the dark season in the Northwest.
While I was in Twisp, the man next door in Seattle (I hesitate to say neighbor because we almost never communicate) came over complaining about "hornets" in our black pussy willow along the shared fence line.
Well, they're a species of Parasitoid Wasp, a beneficial insect feeding on an aphid infestation in the tree. They are non-stinging, harmless to humans and actually a form of natural pest control.
I enjoy listening to their loud buzzing which to him, sounds like a dangerous swarm. I suppose they could be annoying and scary if you don't know what's going on.
Our yard is teeming with insects and obviously not everyone views bugs through the same benign lens. The wasps will soon disappear for the winter, but I'll spray, mostly to control the aphids, and hopefully the wasps won't return next year. He wants me to use an exterminator, but I don't think this warrants calling out the big guns and having the yard drenched with pesticide.
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