The pests were first recorded in Melbourne in 1977, and spread to most parts of Victoria by the 1990s. They have now become so widespread that Victoria’s Department of Agriculture describes them as “naturalised”, and no longer considers them a notifiable pest.

An East Gippsland Shire spokesman said the council could act to address nests on council land, unless that land was run by a committee of management. So far, he said, the council had not been requested to remove a nest.

European wasps mostly build extensive nests in and near the ground, with some nests built under eaves. They can easily be mistaken for native paper wasps and honeybees, but are slightly different in appearance: European wasps have yellow abdomens with black stripes, black antennae, and are 12 to 16 millimetres in length.

University of Melbourne entomologist Professor Ary Hoffmann said the changing climatic conditions increasingly favoured the invasive pest.

“What’s now happening is the [period of] wasp activity is getting longer and longer, and they’re coming out earlier and hanging around longer, and when there’s been a build-up of food – which there has been this year – it allows the population to build up.”

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Hoffmann said there was no doubt climate change was driving greater numbers of the wasps, with a hotter-than-average summer and wet spring having produced plentiful food supplies.

“European wasps are emerging earlier, and climate change and mild winters are a real issue with this pest. They’re not having their populations suppressed by cold winters.”

Europe’s colder winters mean only the queen will survive there, but in Australia, entire European wasp colonies can endure the cold season. However, Hoffmann said that as Europe grew warmer the wasps were extending their range northward.

Howard Reddish, who sold vineyard properties to his wine-growing neighbours 15 years ago, and still lives nearby, fears the European wasp plague could turn deadly.

The easily agitated insects are also attracted to food and drink, and can sting multiple times. They do not die after stinging.

“We’ve created absolutely perfect conditions for these European wasps,” he said. “It is dangerous out there.”

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