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Large hymenoptera family with more than 3,000 different species. In winegrowing occur in Central Europe, especially the German wasp (Paravespula germanica) and the common wasp (Paravespula vulgaris), and occasionally the red wasp (Paravespula rufa) and the hornet (Vespa crabro) on. They overwinter as single, fertilized females. In the spring, they chop up weathered wood and use it to make honeycomb eggs.
The wasps hatching after several larval skinning (predominantly female workers) sting the grapes and eat the contents, so that only the berry skin remains (see picture). bees (who can only eat liquid food) are the beneficiaries of berries pierced by wasps. In contrast to the wasps, they can not bite the grape skin of the grapes, but only on fine hairline cracks with their head, where they absorb the exiting sweet juice. As secondary damages the grapes of mushrooms or bacteria infested, what to vinegar and green rot can lead. Wasps are fought by traps (narrow-mouthed bottles with bait = beer and berry juice). In contrast, the insect species gall wasps and parasitic wasps are beneficials in viticulture. See also below Vine enemies,
Pictures of bernswaelz on Pixabay
