Wasps hovering around on your car or wasps inside the car has compelling reasons despite looking mysterious.
This short guide reveals five reasons your car attracts wasps.
Plus, there are hacks that you can use right now to keep wasps away from your car.
Let’s dive in.
5 Reasons Your Car Attract Wasps
- The heat from the car draws the wasps
- The odor from the car
- The location where you parked the car
- The bright color of your car draws the wasps
- There might be a dead insect on the car tires or inside the car
Let’s get deeper into each of these reasons.
The Heat From The Car Draws The Wasps
The primary reason your car draws wasps is the heat from the car.
You’ll notice that the wasps are hovering around at the front of the car near the car’s grilles.
The heat coming out of the grilles tricks the wasp into thinking that it’s a body heat of a predator.
So, the front portion of the car attracts the wasps.
The Odor From The Car Can Make The Wasps Inspect Your Car
When the car is hot, some compounds inside the car start to vaporize. And they emit an odor.
The smell can be anything from new car paint to the soda you spilled inside the car.
The fruity scent from the car freshener also draws the wasps to the car.
It’s because wasps feed on ripe fruits and ripe fruits are emit a sweet smell that draws wasps and bees.
If you’ve taken a bath with a shower gel with fruit extracts, it can attract wasps to you.
The Location Where You Parked The Car
If you’ve parked your car near a wasp nest, the wasps will fly around the car.
They can consider the car as a threat to their nest. So, your car will draw the wasps to the car.
Wasps build their nests in enclosed and hollow spaces like sheds, attics, roof eaves, inside wall cavities, and carports.
They target those places that are lofty and out of the way of direct sunlight.
So, if you’ve parked your car in such areas, then wasps will investigate your car.
If the windows of your car are open, then wasps will even get inside your car.
And most of the time, wasps inside a car get confused and fail to get out. So, the buzz around inside a closed car.
Wasps will even hide in the folds of the seats or underneath the seat.
Wasps do it because they get fatigued by constantly trying to get out of the car.
If you see a wasp lying idle in your car, open the car’s doors. Use a stick to scoop off the wasp outside of the car.
It’ll fly away.
Dead Insects On The Car Tires Or Inside The Scar
Wasps and yellow jackets hunt bugs and pests like grubs, weevils, aphids, and many more.
They’re scavengers too.
So, if there’s a dead insect stick on the tires of your car, then it’ll also draw the wasps.
Dead bugs and, worse, dead rodents inside the car emit stinks that the wasps can pick up from a distance.
That will also cause the wasps to inspect your car for a possible food source.
How To Keep Wasps Away From Your Car?
Wasps don’t want to purposefully infest your car.
If your car doesn’t have the things that draw them, then wasps will not be in and around your car.
So, always keep yourself clean. A clean car won’t emit smells of fluids while the car is hot.
A clean car will also not attract bugs in the car.
Wasps have a unique ability to detect their hiding preys.
And if there are bugs like beetles, roaches, and ants inside your car, then wasps will pick up their presence inside your car.
In the wasp season, spring and summer, ensure that you don’t use a car freshener that emits a fruity smell.
Avoiding parking your car near the wasp nests will also keep wasps away from your car.
However, your garage or shed where you park your car is an ideal place for wasps to build their nests.
If you notice an active nest, don’t try to knock it down.
It can be dangerous for you as the wasps will mercilessly sting you multiple times.
It’s always a wise move to call a pest control professional to remove a wasp nest from your home and property.
How Long Can Wasps Survive In A Hot Car?
Inside a hot car with no access to food, a wasp won’t survive beyond 72 hours.
But wasps are quite resilient bugs. If there are other bugs in the car that they can hunt and eat, they can easily survive for several weeks.
However, many factors depend on how long a wasp can survive inside a hot car or in a locked car.
The weather, age, class (if it’s a worker wasp or queen wasp), and how long ago the wasp ate are some factors that play a significant role in determining how long the wasp will survive without food in a closed car.
Conclusion
Wasps are attracted to your car for 5 reasons –
- The heat from the car draws the wasps
- The odor from the car
- The location where you parked the car
- The bright color of your car draws the wasps
- There might be a dead insect on the car tires or inside the car
However, keeping wasps away from your car is simple and easy.
All you’ve to do is to ensure that your car is clean and you park your car away from a wasp nest.
Nang Chen is an Entomologist and Arachnologist who is associated with Vienna’s museum of natural history. He’s also a consultant with real estate groups, insecticide conglomerates and law enforcement groups as a forensic entomologist. Nang Chen holds an M.S. from South China University and he’s a regular contributor to our site.