Tiny, Wingless Wasp Found Stinging Residents in Florida

A tiny wasp native to the Southeastern US has recently been identified in a home, stinging the resident – a first record of this species being a nuisance indoors in the US. The wasp, Sclerodermus macrogaster, are tiny wasps no longer than 5mm and are rarely found indoors. However, there have been instances of closely related species coming indoors and stinging people in Italy. The rare occurrence of these wasps indoors in the US is probably due to air conditioning and window screens commonly found in residential settings excluding the wasps. For more information, click here.