Warning of wasp ‘super nests’ in Alabama

Wasp ‘super nests’ – as large as a small car and containing thousands of insects - are returning to the southern US, experts warn.

Alabama residents are being urged to look out for nests the size of a Volkswagen Beetle with up to 15,000 stinging insects.

They are being warned wasps – or yellow jackets as they are known in the US – will defend the refuges “to the death”.

The Alabama Cooperative Extension System says they can be attached to cars, on the ground or on homes.

In 2006, more than 90 appeared across the state.

Now, following a mild winter, scientists are warning they are reappearing in the northern hemisphere summer.

“We confirmed two nests in May and have indications of a third,” entomologist Charles Ray said in a recent post on the Alabama Cooperative Extension System website.

"This puts us several weeks earlier than in 2006, when we identified the first giant nest on June 13."

Recent milder winters and a plentiful food supply have enabled some colonies to survive with higher-than-normal numbers.

Ray, a researcher at Alabama’s Auburn University, is concerned there may be large numbers of wasps this year.

“The nests I have seen this year already have more than 10,000 workers and are expanding rapidly."

And people are being warned of the dangers from approaching a ‘super nest’.

“Yellow jackets will defend the nest to the death, fighting tooth and nail,” University of Georgia agricultural agent James Murphy told WSB media outlet.

People are being warned every sting increases their chances of becoming sensitive to the venom and suffering a reaction, which in some cases can be fatal.