Bushfires and a hot summer may have led to a decrease in European Wasps being spotted in Canberra.
A recent report has revealed calls to Canberra's European wasp hotline were down by 356 calls in 2019-20 compared to the previous 12 months after CoreEnviro solutions and eWasps collated data.
"It was a very hot and very dry spring and summer and that affected the European wasp a lot because they do require water to make their nests," program director Jim Bariesheff said.
The number of established nests reported between November and March fell to just 97 this year, compared to 336 in the 2018-2019 year.
The dry weather also brought a notable decline in nests being formed in roof voids, as temperatures could have reached up to 60-70 degrees during the summer months.
However, the data revealed that 68 per cent of European wasp nests were located in residential areas, most commonly in the Belconnen region, with 41 per cent making a home in wall cavities.
Mr Bariesheff said they can cause severe damage to houses by gnawing through plasterboards which could cost residents thousands of dollars to repair.
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They also have a large impact on native insects, reptiles and birds and can cause havoc for food supplies within native environments.
The upcoming season is still unknown, Mr Bariesheff saying "It's always very hard to predict the season in advance."
One thing that is certain is: queens leave the nest in late April, looking for a place to hibernate in winter.
Usually 30 per cent of queens in Australia survive the winter period. It is estimated that one nest can produce around one thousand queens and of those, three hundred queens will survive winter.
"Half of those...that can survive and make established nests become nuisance nests here in the ACT," Mr Bariesheff said.
There were 24 stinging incidents in the capital in the past 12 months from 135 nests reported. Although the total number of nests reported was lower, the stinging percentage (17.7 per cent) was higher than the previous 12 months.
Ten nests have already been treated in June and July this year. Mr Bariesheff urges people to contact the hotline should they sight a European wasp nest.
Those who are allergic to bee and wasp stings are also urged to be cautious around a suspecting nest, as European wasps can be dangerous and could cause anaphylactic shock.
