Yellow jackets may be the best dressed dinner guests in town, but some Montreal restaurant owners say they're showing up uninvited and scaring away customers.
"In general, people just freak out and leave," said Joel Martinez, branch director of Jack le Coq in Verdun.
He said they've tried different ways to limit what feels like a wasp invasion, but nothing seems to work.
"It's just crazy everywhere," said Martinez. "As a business, you try to give your best service to the client, but they're not enjoying their meal."
Jacqueline Hopmeyer was out on a Montreal terrasse Monday, and she felt there were more wasps than usual.
"I am petrified of them," she said. "I'm surprised I haven't gotten up to run yet."
While it might seem like yellow jackets are out in bigger numbers than ever before, there's no scientific evidence of a wasp boom, according to Université de Montréal entomologist Étienne Normandin.
However, weather does play a role.
"Studies tend to show that hot springs and summers tend to activate wasp metabolism," Normandin said. "This will increase the survival of the wasps in early spring."
If temperatures continue to climb with climate change, "we can expect to have larger populations, more present in cities," he said.
But don't call the exterminator just yet.
Wasps important for nature, crops
Wasps play a crucial role in nature, Normandin said. Wasps, which are predatory insects, are excellent pollinators and they control harmful insects in crops because they feed on things like aphids, insect eggs and caterpillars.
Studies from around the world have shown land-dwelling insect populations are on the decline. Scientists and environmentalists alike have been pushing for insect protection rather than extermination, and some groups in Montreal even build habitats for critters like mason bees to call home.
Julia Mlynarek said people should leave the wasps alone and not worry about them so much. She's an entomologist at Montreal's Insectarium, and like Normandin, she said wasps shouldn't be shooed away or exterminated.
"They're predators, but they're also pollinators," she said. "They have several different roles in our ecosystem."
Wasps, being predatory, are driven by smell. If people are out eating big plates of food with sweet, sugary drinks or desserts, they are sure to be attracted to the table, she said.
"That's why we see them around restaurants," she said. "If you leave them alone, they'll leave you alone."
Wasps do appear more numerous this time of year as workers leave the colonies and queens prepare to hibernate.
"We notice them more and more as summer progresses and they become more active," she said.
After first frost, wasps disappear
Once temperatures begin to cool, the wasp population will slow down and finally die off when the first frost hits, said Mlynarek.
As climate change leads to higher temperatures, wasps may be active for a longer period of time, but experts still don't know what will happen. Maybe wasps will simply die of old age rather than thriving later in the year, she said, but scientists are still researching this question.
WATCH | Why are wasps so active this time of year?
![](https://thumbnails.cbc.ca/maven_legacy/thumbnails/913/151/98.png?crop=1.777xh:h;*,*&downsize=510px:*%20510w")
"I think it will take a while to figure out what the impact will be," said Mlynarek.
Regardless, she said, people shouldn't fear them. It's good to pay attention to them, she said.
"Don't run away. They live on Earth just like we do."
Wasps are buzzing around Montreal terrasses more than usual, but experts say leave them be - CBC.ca
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